Ranma: Four Horsemen
by God of Darkness
Summary: How different would the Ranma 12 world be if it were not Ranma who had immesurable talent in the martial arts, but his younger brother, Genryu? (I'm Back)
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer:

I don't own the world of Ranma ½, and I do not own any other animes (which will be making a slight appearance, at least the fighting styles and fighting techniques). The name Genryu came from another Ranma fic that I read, but I've forgotten the title of the fic. If the author of that fic reads this one, let me know, and I'll make the appropriate changes to the disclaimer.

Key:

"..." Normal speech.

"..." Chinese.

(...) direct, word for word thoughts.

Prologue

Saotome Nodaka sat at the table of the living room of her home, watching her husband Genma train their two children, Ranma and Genryu. Ranma was the elder of the two brothers by a year, and was now five over Genryu's four. One would've expected Ranma to be the better of the two in martial arts having had a whole year's worth of training more than his brother. But as both Ranma and Genryu landed after a jump, and Ranma lost his balance and fell over while Genryu landed perfectly, it was clear that Ranma wasn't the better of the two. Especially once Genryu started mocking Ranma as he always did whenever Ranma botched a move.

Ranma turned to his father for help, hoping the older man would stop Genryu from mocking him. But all Genma did was stare down at his son with cold contempt.

(Damn it Ranma, how are you supposed to supply for me in my old age when you can't even get the simplest moves right?!)

Aloud, Genma nearly growled.

"Get up boy! Or are you a little GIRL?! We won't stop this until you get it right, perfectly!"

Ranma turned his face away from his father, hurt clearly showing in his eyes, and stood. However, instead of turning to face his father for another try at the exercise, he simply walked to the house, Genma's next question barked at his back.

"Where do you think you're going?!"

Ranma's voice was quiet, but Genma could still hear the single word Ranma spoke.

"Inside."

Later that night, Ranma snuck downstairs for some food. In punishment for him stopping training earlier that day, he hadn't gotten any dinner, Genma having stolen it all before Ranma had gotten a bite.

As Ranma passed the study he heard his mother's and his father's voices, arguing about something. Ranma considered stopping to listen and going to get some food for a moment, but when he heard his name he decided to stay and listen. His mother was speaking quite heatedly to his father, and he missed most of the sentence that had had his name in it as he settled himself in.

"Genma, what you propose is outrageous! I will not let you take any of my children away from me!"

Genma's voice was just as heated as Nodaka's as he replied.

"What am I to do then?! I can't fully train Genryu here, with his older brother holding him back! You and I both know how weak Ranma is! You said it yourself the first time you saw him! Ranma was less than you thought he'd be! Lacking! Better if the worthless runt had been born a girl..."

Ranma was taken aback by his father's words, and his chest tightened uncomfortably. He felt a slight burning sensation in his eyes, and knew he was about to cry. Usually he would've fought the tears, his father's words of 'boys never cry' stopping him. But this once, he let the tears flow, his father's words gouging deep wounds, but none as deep as his mother's opinion of him.

Ranma returned his attention to the study in time to hear Nodaka's next words.

"Yes. I knew the first time I saw Ranma, the first time I held him. He was lacking. Something was missing. Something his younger brother possesses."

Ranma choked back a sob for fear of being discovered, and silently stood, and headed back to his room. He had a lot of thinking to do.

Once he was in his room, he closed the door, and sat down on his futon. He let the tears continue to run down his face, uncaring, while he thought.

He wasn't what his parents wanted, so he was useless to them. His own mother said that he was lacking, while his younger brother wasn't. Ranma laid back on his futon, grabbed his pillow, and screamed into it. It Wasn't Fair!!! Why did his little brother have everything he wanted! His mother's love and his father's respect! Their parents doted on Genryu constantly, usually totally forgetting about Ranma. And when Ranma trained with his brother and father, and inevitably failed, Genma would look at his son with cold contempt in his eyes, insulting him. When Genryu succeeded, Genma would stop the 'training insults' and congratulate the younger boy.

Finally Ranma's tears subsided, and he placed the wet pillow down. He had reached a decision. He would leave. He'd leave, and search out martial arts masters around the world, and he would beg them to train him. He'd become stronger than Genryu would ever dream, and not just in martial arts. Ranma was supposed to start school in a week, and that gave him the idea to exceed knowledgably as well as physically.

And once he felt he was ready, he'd return. And he'd show his parents he wasn't lacking ANYTHING!!!

The next day, Nodaka awoke as she always did, to the sounds of training. She walked out of her room, pulling on a robe, and looked out to see Genma and Genryu training one last time in their home. Last night, Genma had convinced Nodaka that he was right, and she would allow him to take Genryu away on a training trip. Nodaka tried to shrug off the feeling of great foreboding she was feeling as the two stopped practicing and came inside to say goodbye. It seemed Genma had already explained to Genryu what was happening, and all that was left was farewells.

Nodaka embraced her youngest child tightly, holding him for the last time in several years. She eventually released her son and stood, and glared at Genma. Genma caught her glare and gulped slightly as he went forward to say goodbye to his wife. As he embraced her, she whispered into his ear.

"Remember your promise, Genma dearest, for I shall certainly uphold my end of the bargain."

Genma shivered, and broke the embrace quickly, gathering up Genryu and their packs before walking out the door. Nodaka watched them leave with no small amount of apprehension.

After they had faded into the distance, Nodaka closed the door, and leaned her forehead against it, feeling a bit of ice settle into her stomach. If Genma didn't come through, and make Genryu a 'man amongst men,' Nodaka would kill him. Or at least maim him...While her husband was an idiot, Nodaka loved him. But even if Genryu came back weaker than Ranma, Nodaka wouldn't force of them to commit seppuku. Though she most assuredly would seriously harm Genma for taking her son away from her for nothing.

Finally, Nodaka turned away from the door, and went up stairs, to Ranma's room. With her youngest son gone, she wanted to hold her eldest. But when she opened the door, she received a shock in that Ranma wasn't in the room, and the window was wide open. An envelope was on Ranma's pillow and Nodaka tore it open frantically. Inside was a simple letter.

To Whom It May Concern:

I'm leaving. I'll return someday, and I'll be better than my little brother. And I won't be 'lacking' anything.

Ranma.

Nodaka stared at the piece of paper in her hands, shocked to her core. Eventually, tears started to trickle down her face as she shot up, and frantically tore Ranma's room apart looking for her eldest son, hoping that it was some sick joke. When she didn't find him in his room, Nodaka tore through the rest of the house, hoping he might be hiding somewhere in the other rooms. But her search came up empty. Her son Ranma had also left. Nodaka sank down to the floor and cried, utterly alone.

Ranma collapsed, exhausted. He had been walking for several hours, since about midnight, and even though his pack was light, he was still only five years old. He crawled over to a nearby bench and pulled himself up onto it, breathing heavily. After a moment, he opened his pack and withdrew a bottle of water. He opened it, and quickly drained half of it. He sat there for a moment, debating whether to drink the rest of it, when a person suddenly appeared beside the bench with a light 'pop'.

Ranma started, dropping the bottle, and stared at the stranger. He was incredibly tall, nearly eight feet, and he was dressed from head to toe in flowing black robes. His black hair was nearly a yard long, and pulled back into a loose pony tail, and he had blood red eyes which were looking at Ranma as if they could see through him, into his mind. As if they knew everything.

"Greetings Saotome Ranma." The man's voice was as smooth and soft as silk, and as sharp as a razor. Ranma felt like checking himself over to see if he had been cut by the man's mere words.

"H-How do you know my name?"

The man didn't reply immediately. Instead he merely continued to look Ranma in the eye.

"I know a great deal about you, much more than your name. For example, I know that your father, Genma, has been training you and your younger brother in the martial arts, and that you have been failing miserably. I know that last night you heard your parents say the truth. And I know that you want desperately, more than anything, to prove them wrong."

Ranma started to inch away from this strange man, who knew so much and felt so dangerous. But he was stopped by the man's next words.

"I can help you achieve your goal. I can help you surpass your weak younger brother in every way imaginable."

Ranma froze with indecision. For a moment, his five year old mind contemplated what this man was offering. Eventually Ranma's mind came to a decision. He would ask a question, and his own decision would depend on the answer. Ranma looked at the strange man, his face serious.

"Why are you offering to help me?"

"Because I, unlike that fat fool Genma, can sense that you have been touched Ranma. I can sense it, I can even smell it. You have been touched by chaos. And I want the power that sleeps deep within you from that touch."

Ranma blinked at the man in shock. Chaos? What's that? But the man said he wanted him. Ranma felt tears come unbidden to his eyes as he asked his next question.

"You...don't think I'm lacking?"

The man blinked, the first time Ranma had seen him do so.

"Everyone is lacking something. You, Genryu, Genma, even I lack something. However, where Genma could never hope to help you become complete, I can. I can give you what you are lacking Ranma. But I can do so only if you trust me, come with me."

Ranma sat still for a moment, his mind going through the new information. After nearly a minute of consideration, Ranma looked the man in the eyes and nodded. The man beckoned Ranma to him, and the five year old stood, grabbed his pack, and walked over to the man.

The man swept his cloak around Ranma, and called the eldritch energies to him, preparing to take himself and Ranma to another world. Ranma looked up at the man towering above him and asked one last question before the man completed his spell.

"What's your name?"

The man looked down at Ranma for a moment before looking back up. Ranma thought that the man wasn't going to tell him as he saw the world start to swirl together, and pull towards them, but just before they both disappeared the man answered Ranma's question.

"Ragnarok is what I am called."

And with that, both Ranma and Ragnarok disappeared from the face of the Earth.

:Author's Notes:

Hmm...a little more angst than I wanted in the beginning of the prologue, but it'll do. This, for those of you who can't tell, is an AU, or Alternate Universe, fic of Ranma ½. In this fic, Ranma doesn't have the incredible learning ability when it comes to martial arts, or the curse, or the multiple fiancés. Genryu's got all of that, since it was he who went with Genma on the training trip. Those are some of the differences, but I'll leave the others for in the fic. Hope you read and enjoy, and please review.


	2. Chapter 1: Here's Ranma

Chapter 1: Here's Ranma.

In the morning the Bayankala Mountain range was an incredibly beautiful and serene place, well worth whatever climbing and walking one went through to get there. But on this particular morning, the peace and serenity was destined to be disturbed.

A squirrel ran out onto the limb of a tree, a nut tucked into its cheeks. It reached about midway out on the branch and stopped, spitting the nut out into its paws and gnawing away at it with its teeth. The squirrel had almost gotten through the nuts tough shell when its head suddenly snapped up. Its nose twitched as it scented the air, and its small ears moved back and forth, twitching at every small sound.

The squirrel suddenly panicked, tucking the nut back into its mouth as it turned and ran full tilt back toward the tree trunk. It disappeared a moment later into the trees other branches, hiding from view in the heavy foliage. For nearly a minute, nothing happened. But the squirrel didn't reappear.

Then lightning flickered. This wasn't a full on lighting bolt striking down from the cloudless sky. It was merely a small bit of lighting suddenly flickering in midair for a moment, with one very large fact to proclaim it as unusual. The lightning was black.

For a few seconds there was nothing except small flickers of black lightning. Then the lightning suddenly picked up tempo and fervor, crackling angrily in the air while slowly forming a sphere. Eventually, the lightning was flickering like mad across the surface of a black sphere of energy, perfectly round, and with some unknown object inside.

One last crackle of black lightning sounded when the sphere suddenly shrank inward, revealing a young man, who was perfectly calm as if he appeared in orbs of black lightning everyday.

The young man looked to be about sixteen, had long black hair tied back into a pigtail that reached his shoulders, stormy gray blue eyes, and was dressed completely in black. A black v-neck tank top, with netting across the v, was tucked into a pair of loose pants, which were in turn tucked into a pair of black boots. A black sash with silver kanji sown into it was tied around the young man's waist, the ends blowing slightly in the breeze. The young man's right hand was currently holding a black cloak, which was thrown over his right shoulder. Each forearm had a gauntlet made out of an unknown black material that was revealed to have dark blue highlights as light played across the surface, making it look as if he had dark waters from the bottom of the ocean wrapped around his forearms.

He took a deep breath of mountain air, glancing around. (Geez. Death has really got to perfect that teleportation spell of his. Sure, it gets you from point A to point B, but it's one hell of a bumpy ride. Now then, where exactly am I...?)

He closed his eyes for a moment, appearing to be just standing perfectly still. Then his eyes snapped open and he glared about him. (And apparently point B is several hundred miles off target!! I'm supposed to be in Japan, not mainland China!! No wonder Death was always late!)

He sighed and swung his cloak about his shoulders, slipping his arms into the sleeves. The cloak dangled down to a few inches above his feet. (Well, might as well get moving. I've got a bit of a walk ahead of me.)

With that the young man set off, walking briskly down the mountain, enjoying the air and scenery as he went along.

Mascara, an Amazon of extreme age and incredible shortness, watched her grandniece Lotion as she warmed up for the annual tournament. Ever since Cologne left taking her great-granddaughter with her chasing after that young outsider, the other young fighters of the village actually started to work harder. Now that Shampoo wasn't around and someone else could win the grand prize, the other fighters redoubled their efforts, rising high in the art in an attempt to take the gold. To Mascara, it was a blessing.

Cologne was the greatest warrior in the village, and an incredibly wise woman, that Mascara couldn't and wouldn't deny. And Shampoo was a well chosen heir, filled with potential. However, having someone so strong in the younger generation was both a blessing and a curse. The other children her age had long since fallen behind, not being under the direct and sole tutelage of the village matriarch, and were losing determination. If they couldn't have a chance at the gold, why bother trying? And since Amazons only gave one prize, there was no competition for the position of runner up.

A gong sounded deep in the village and Mascara and Lotion both headed for the origin of the sound, arriving at the tournament ring in a few minutes. Instead of the usual challenge log a circle twenty feet in diameter had been marked out on the ground, allowing much more freedom of movement, as well as some of the more advanced moves such as the Hiryu Shoten Ha, which required a greater area to execute than the challenge log supplied. Mascara quickly claimed her usual seat as Lotion went to join the group of those participating in the tournament.

While waiting for the tournament to begin, Mascara scanned the crowd, placing names with faces. But as she looked over the crowd, two men moving near the edges caught her attention. Normally her eyes would've passed over them without so much as a moment's hesitation. The Jusenkyo Guide wasn't that rare of a sight in the village, and outsiders were more or less beneath the notice of a village elder, especially males. However, her instincts compelled her to keep the outsider, a young man dressed completely in black, in her sight at all times. She decided to get closer and inspect him more thoroughly with her senses.

With that decision made, she moved through the crowd, the people parting slightly to let her through, until she came up behind them. Much closer now she could feel the young outsider's power in much more detail, and she nearly gasped in surprise at what she found.

The young outsider's aura was, for lack of a better term, huge. It took most fighters in the Amazon village nearly thirty years to build up an aura this big. And that wasn't all. The aura was tightly held in and controlled, making her suspicious as to just how much power he really had. With the amount of control she suspected he had over his ki, Mascara was fairly certain that his aura could be over ten times larger than it was at the moment. That would put him on par with an elder of the village, something unheard of in one so young.

Mascara moved closer, intending to introduce herself to the outsider, and possibly find some way to make physical contact. Doing so would allow her the chance to make as accurate an assessment of his power as possible. She took another step forward when the outsider suddenly stopped and turned around to face her, looking down at her. The Guide kept walking for a moment before realizing that his charge had stopped.

The Guide found the young man he had been guiding facing an elder of the village. The woman was barely two and a half feet tall, and was dressed in the traditional robes of a village elder. She was smiling warmly at the young man in welcome and she extended her right hand as she spoke in perfect Japanese.

"Welcome to our humble village, young man. I am one of the elders, Mascara, and it's a pleasure to meet you."

The outsider looked down at her, his face devoid of emotion, for a moment. He then grinned in a way that said 'I know what you're up to.' For a moment Mascara thought he was going to risk insulting her by not shaking her hand, but he then removed his right hand from the pocket of his cloak, bent down slightly, and shook her hand. The moment their skin made contact, Mascara froze as she sensed the outsider's power.

After a moment he broke the handshake, Mascara still frozen. Soon after their skin broke contact she came back to life, staring up at the outsider calculatingly. She now knew that this young man must be brought into the tribe. Period, end of discussion. Mascara went off to find her grandniece, feeling the eyes of the outsider on her back as she went.

The Guide stepped forward, coming abreast of the young man as he watched the elder leave. Soon she had disappeared into the crowd, and the young man turned and motioned for the Guide to lead on.

As he moved forward, the Guide spoke in broken Japanese. "Oh, Sir is very lucky! Most women of village no like outsider, especially male outsider. To have elder show such kindness so soon very rare!"

The young man answered, his tone carrying a small bit of humor. "Must be my irresistible charm."

The Guide didn't know what the word 'charm' was in Japanese so he simply nodded. As they moved around the crowd surrounding the center of the village, the Guide kept up a dialogue explaining what was happening, and how important the tournament was to the Amazons.

Soon they had completed circling the crowd and the young man asked a question he had been mulling over in his mind. "Guide, are there any special laws or customs pertaining to a citizen of this village fighting an outsider?"

The Guide nodded, glad that this young man seemed to catch onto things quickly. "Yes, two such laws, they are-"

"Nothing you would need to worry about. They are trivial things."

The Guide and the young man both turned to find that Mascara had returned and had brought a young girl with her, maybe sixteen or seventeen. She had long red hair, which she had tied back into two buns that sat atop her head, and had blue eyes. A heart shaped face framed the eyes, with gentle curves evident in the bone structure. A red robe with long wide sleeves, which went well with her hair, couldn't completely hide her developing figure, or her slim waist and flat stomach. A pair of white pants were visible underneath the robe, as while it went down to her ankles, it was slit on both sides up to her waist.

"This is my grandniece Lotion, and I would be honored if you would give her a short match."

Lotion didn't so much as blink in surprise, instead taking the time to study this outsider, and liking what she was seeing. He wasn't particularly tall, maybe about 5'10", but like her own robe, his cloak couldn't completely hide his body, which she could tell was firmly muscled and lean. And he moved with an unconscious grace, like a big cat as it moved lazily about. He seemed to flow along instead of merely walking, speaking of great flexibility of his body.

"I'm sorry, but so soon before a tournament that she'll be participating in? I think I'll decline for now until after the tournament."

Lotion frowned. Her Japanese was considerably better than most people's in the village, since she was rather fascinated with foreign languages, and she had to bite her tongue to stop a vicious retort. She'd let her grandaunt handle this.

Mascara predictably spoke up in Lotion's defense. "Ah, but she has not yet finished her warm up, and doing so against another person will be more beneficial than alone."

The young outsider nodded, as that did make sense. "True. But since tact didn't work...The answer is no. I will not fight her, not even to help her warm up."

"Why not?!" Lotion immediately regretted speaking, but she couldn't have stopped the words.

The outsider turned to look her in the eye. "Because you have two laws concerning outsiders and combat, and I won't fight until I know what they are. Once I know, then I'll decide whether or not to fight you." He turned to leave, stopping as his left side was facing her. "Besides, I don't feel like hurting anyone right now, and even a pulled punch will do a lot of damage to you, possibly more than you can take."

Lotion ground her teeth and her right hand disappeared into the sleeve of her robe. It reappeared with eight throwing knives held between her fingers, and she drew back her arm and flung it forward with a "Ha!" The knives flew true, aiming for critical but not lethal points.

But the outsider, without bothering to look, simply caught all the knives between the fingers of his left hand, his arm blurring as it moved to intercept each knife. For a moment Lotion blinked in surprise. Then both of her hands dipped into her sleeves as she drew back both of her arms, and flung them forward.

This time eight chains appeared, each with either a knife or spiked ball at the end. The outsider turned to fully face her, and an item fell out of the sleeve of his cloak into his right hand. He raised it and Lotion gaped in astonishment that a martial artist would use such a thing before the young man pulled the trigger of the Uzi in his hand.

BLAM B-BLAM BLAM B-BLAM BLAM!!!

Each of the chains was deflected and the outsider relaxed the grip he had on the Uzi. Lotion became aware of a tense silence where before there had been the usual sounds of a crowd, and she realized that everyone had gone silent and turned at the sounds of gunfire.

The outsider looked at her appraisingly, the Uzi still in his right hand, smoke slowly drifting from the barrel. "Hidden Weapons huh?"

For a moment Lotion just stood still. Then she found her voice again. "What kind of Martial Artist are you, using a gun?!"

He blinked and lowered the Uzi, letting it point at the ground. "Martial Artist? Hmph, you won't find my name in that list of weaklings."

The sound of grinding teeth, shifting feet, and tightening grips on weapons was suddenly very audible. Lotion herself had to exert every bit of willpower from jumping forward and ripping out the man's eyes.

"I'm not a Martial Artist. I'm a warrior."

Lotion slowly calmed down as he continued to explain.

"A warrior uses everything he can in a battle. Every weapon, every tool, every aspect of his opponent, their strengths or weaknesses, even every detail of the landscape..." He crouched down, dropping the knives form his left hand, and plucking a single blade of yellowed grass from the ground. "...No matter how simple."

Lotion frowned. "A mere blade of grass won't work on me. Perhaps we should take you to a doctor, see if your head's alright."

He smiled as he stood up, the grass held between his thumb and index finger. "Well, I suppose I'll just have to show you how 'mere' this blade of grass is then." Then he snapped his wrist, throwing the blade of grass at her.

And _through _her.

Lotion gasped at the sudden burning pain in her chest and glanced down, feeling at the front of her robes with her right hand in shock. Her hand came away smeared with a small amount of blood.

"You're lucky you didn't move. So much as a twitch and that would've gone through your heart or left lung."

Lotion looked at him, feeling faint a trickling of fear in her breast as he released the Uzi. Instead of dropping to the ground, it was sucked up into his cloak's sleeve, defying the laws of physics.

For a moment stunned silence ruled the clearing. Then excited whispers broke out as the young man tucked his hands once again into the pockets of his cloak. Mascara was watching with barely contained glee. (Such a man hasn't come to this village in ages! Getting him into our tribe will increase our power greatly!) Then she saw another elder approaching the small area where Lotion and the outsider were standing, a young girl in tow. Mascara mentally cursed, then did so aloud as she saw that the outsider had already spotted the two approaching. And the next two elders with young woman in tow. Mascara quickly moved to head them off. (They'll ruin everything!)

The outsider sighed as he walked over to Lotion, who came close to taking a step back. He smiled slightly, a sad little smile, and reached out to grab her shoulder gently but firmly with his right hand. He raised his left hand, the index finger extended and glowing a faint blue, and touched the spot where the grass had gone through. Lotion blinked as the sting abruptly vanished on both her chest and her back. She still felt a slight itch while she breathed, but she was still thankful.

"Unfortunately, I can't do anything about the irritation. That'll have to go away on its own."

For a moment, Lotion merely looked into the outsider's eyes. Then she became aware of the downright shouting match between the elders. The words were garbled as they were all shouting, trying to make each other heard, but a few were understandable.

"-he'll fight-"

"-not your place to-"

"-laws dictate-"

"-being stupid, all-"

"-et out of m-"

"-andmother, wha-"

The outsider looked over the small gathering, a stony expression on his face. He then turned to call to the guide in perfect Chinese. "Guide, thank you for showing me the way so far. But now I must travel alone."

The Guide blinked in surprise but nodded. Just then, two elders simply walked around Mascara toward the outsider, determination written all over their faces. They stopped when they felt a slight surge of ki from the outsider when he suddenly grinned at them and...

...Disappeared.

:Nerima, Japan:

At Furinkan High, things were progressing as usual. Classes had gone as smooth as ever, lunch had come and gone with a few events, and Saotome Genryu had thrown Kuno around like he was a rag doll, beaten both Mousse and Ryoga, and been drained by Hinako sensei. He had also been punted around by Akane for something he wasn't sure he did, drugged by Kodachi, and blackmailed by Nabiki. Just a normal day in Nerima.

On a rooftop not far from Furinkan a young man dressed completely in black suddenly popped into existence, looking around. After a moment he sighed, and hopped down onto the empty street. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his cloak and started to walk toward Furinkan just as the bell rang, signaling the end of the school day. Predictably, students poured out of the large building in a flood, heading for the gate.

Seeing the students coming toward him, he decided to wait and leaned against one of the pillars of the gate. Just as the first students reached him and he was about to stop one to ask for directions, a commotion back in the main body of the flood caught his attention. The students thinned out slightly, allowing him to see what was happening.

A boy, about 15, was running from a girl about a year older than he was, dodging between the students around him with ease, the girl hot on his heals, apparently rather angry about something. The boy had short red brown hair, and blue eyes, and was dressed in a red Chinese shirt, and black Chinese pants, tied off at the ankle above kung fu slippers. The girl, in contrast, had short dark blue hair, large brown eyes, and was wearing the standard female uniform.

The young man at the gate watched them for a moment, forgetting that he needed directions. As the two neared the gate, another young man, this one with short brown hair, and wearing traditional kendo clothes in blue and black, ran on an intercept course, a bokken held high in the air. He was shouting, his voice carrying what he obviously thought was a dramatic and righteous tone. "Prepare to die, foul sorcerer, before the greatness that is Kuno Tatewaki!!"

Soon the kendoist had intercepted the 'foul sorcerer', and began slashing away with his bokken, despite the boy's protests that he wanted to get home. The young man watched bemusedly as a small space was formed around the two, a crowd gathering to watch. The girl that had been chasing the boy ended up near the gate.

She started slightly when she noticed the young man leaning against the pillar. She knew he wasn't a student, though he was young enough to be one. She gave him a quick once over, noting his black hair tied back into a pigtail, eyes the oddest shade of gray-blue, and his entirely black ensemble. When her gaze returned to his head, she saw that his own gaze had switched form the fight between Genryu and Kuno to her. She blushed slightly at having been caught staring. After a moment he smiled slightly.

"Hi. Could you give me some directions? I haven't been to Japan in over ten years, and I'm a little lost."

She nodded, glad he wasn't going to call her on staring. "Oh, no problem, I'd be happy to."

He opened his mouth to tell her where he was going when a new person joined in the fight.

Ryoga, forgoing his normal battle cry of 'Saotome Genryu, Prepare to DIE' merely joined in the fight swinging his umbrella around like mad. His first swing, a downward thrust, missed and crashed into the pavement, shattering it easily.

The girl turned back to the fight, shouting out. "Genryu, why are you picking a fight with Ryoga now?! Finish your fight with Kuno first!"

She didn't notice how the young man she had been talking too suddenly looked at her sharply. (Genryu?!)

In the fight, Genryu had just ducked under a slash from Kuno and Ryoga flipped open his umbrella. He drew back his arm and sent the unusual weapon spinning through the air. The intended target, Genryu, dropped and rolled to the side, letting the umbrella pass him by harmlessly.

The people watching the fight, however, were not as fortunate as the umbrella was suddenly spinning toward them. In particular, a certain blue haired girl who didn't see the deadly projectile curving through the air toward her. Fortunately, the young man standing next to her did.

He placed his left hand on her shoulder and yanked her out of the way, earning a startled yelp, while his right hand shot out and grabbed the umbrella by the handle. He didn't so much as blink at its weight as he flicked his wrist, closing it, then threw it back into the fight.

Ryoga, who was about to use a Breaking Point on the ground right below Genryu, suddenly flew backwards as his own umbrella crashed into his face with the force of a sledgehammer. Genryu and Kuno stopped fighting in surprise as Ryoga crashed down onto the ground, dazed.

"Be more aware of where your own weapons go."

Both Genryu and Kuno whirled around to face the speaker and saw a young man, dressed in black, with his left hand still on Akane's shoulder. Kuno, of course, interpreted things in his own way.

Kuno jabbed his bokken at the young man who dared touch his Akane. "You, Fowl Knave, shall release the beautiful flower that is Tendo Akane this instant, lest the wrath of the heaven does befall you in the form of my most righteous anger!"

In response, the young man just blinked. "Right." He then turned to Akane, taking his hand off her shoulder and stuffing both hands into his cloak pockets. "Now, about those directions..."

"FOOL! You shall NOT turn away from my greatness until I have finished!!"

Kuno charged, swinging his bokken with what he thought passed for skill.

A forward thrust was avoided by a tilt of the head a fraction to the right, and a downward slash hit nothing but air as the intended target turned slightly, while a horizontal slash aimed at the head missed when the young man leaned forward slightly. As this was going on, the young man carried out a conversation with Akane.

"I'm looking to get to Juuban. Can you point me in the right direction?"

"Juuban? Yeah. It's that way, but the best mode of transport is the subway, which is a few blocks that way. Geez, you must have been gone a long time to have forgotten where Juuban was." She blushed and held a hand up to her mouth as she realized that what she said was rather rude.

He simply smiled. "Well, like I said, it's been over ten years. Now, if...Damn it." He had just narrowly avoided a horizontal slash by stepping to the side, and Akane could see that he was rather annoyed. "One moment please."

He then turned to face Kuno, who shouted, "Ah, so you have finally decided to face me, eh? Then prepare yourself for the pain you most assuredly deserve to receive from the most perfect sword technique!"

Kuno raised his bokken for another attack when the young man responded. "Save it." He then moved forward and dealt with Kuno.

SNAP CRACKLE POP!!! "AAIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!"

Quite brutally too.

Akane winced, feeling several sympathy pains as she studied Kuno, who was now lying on the ground, unconscious. The young man turned back to her, letting out a sigh of relief. He rolled his head around, popping his neck. "Much better."

Genryu watched as the young man talked with Akane, getting more information about the subway. He glanced at Kuno lying on the ground, remembering how quickly the man in black had dealt with the upstart kendoist. Genryu returned his gaze to the young man, and popped his knuckles. Something about black clad boy was rubbing him wrong. The way he moved and spoke reminded Genryu of something, and he felt extreme annoyance welling up within him for some reason.

He took a stance and decided to 'test' this young man, see what he was made of. And if he happened to score a direct hit and break a bone, oh well, them's the breaks.

Genryu rushed forward, drawing back his right hand, and punched, aiming for the stranger's shoulder. Instead of striking the expected flesh, Genryu's fist blew through the air as the young man suddenly leaned to his right. Genryu then felt the unexpected feeling of fingers closing around his wrist as the young man grabbed Genryu with his left hand, and flipped Genryu into the air, releasing him and letting him fly away.

Genryu flipped over in the air to land on his feet and studied the young man, now twenty feet away.

Akane took a step forward, eyeing Genryu angrily. "Genryu, what are you doing?!"

Before Genryu could answer, the young man interrupted, walking forward so that he stood directly across form Genryu. "Genryu? _Saotome _Genryu?"

Genryu blinked in surprise. "Uh...yeah. How do you know my name? You don't have a sister that pops engaged me to do you?" The young man shook his head to the negative. "Are you out on some stupid quest for revenge for something I didn't do?" Another shake of the head to the negative. "Are you here to kidnap Akane?" A few blinks this time, followed by another shake to the negative. Genryu frowned. Then _what_ was getting him so annoyed?! Why did this guy look so familiar?! Genryu could feel that he had met this guy somewhere.

At that moment, Genryu glanced around, trying to think, and his eyes rested on a pane of glass in a shop window across the street, and his reflection on the glass. He suddenly blinked in surprise then glanced at the young man and then back to the reflection. He did so several more times before coming out of his stance and glaring at the young man across the street.

"So, Ranma, you've finally returned. It's been quite a while."

Akane blinked in surprise and looked between Genryu and the young man next to her. "Genryu, you know him?" She could hear several whispers from the gathered crowd as they watched.

"Oh? So you _do _recognize..."

A sudden wind blew through, blowing the stranger's cloak about. It pinned it to his right leg, while making it billow away from his left. His pigtail and bangs were also picked up in the wind, and danced about. He had his right hand in the pocket of his cloak, while his left dangled at his side, clenched into a fist.

"...the face of your older brother."

:Author's Note:

Ah, finally done with chapter 1. I apologize for the constant 'young man' and 'outsider dressed in black' if any of you found it confusing. I have a slight habit of trying to keep people's names hidden till a certain point, even if I give away who they are before hand.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the story, and I hope to hear from you in a review. Please let me know what you think.


	3. Chapter 2: The 'Weakling' Older Brother

Chapter 2: The 'Weakling' Older Brother.

Stunned silence. Akane was no exception, being rendered speechless. She was merely glancing between them, taking a closer look. Now that she did so, she could see the family resemblance. They both had the same nose, the same shape to the eyes, same bearing. Behind her Akane could hear whispers once again breaking out.

"Brother?! Did he say brother?"

"Come to think of it..."

"...They do like alike..."

"...he's even better looking than Genryu..."

"...can have him, I got dibs on..."

"...ot a chance! I saw..."

The whispers suddenly cut off as Genryu started walking forward, toward Ranma and Akane, speaking as he walked.

"Well, now I know I have nothing to worry about. I thought I might have to fight you, like most other idiots who have been showing up. But even if I do have to fight you, at least I know I've got an easy fight ahead of me."

Akane, remembering how Ranma had so easily stopped Ryoga's umbrella, and how easily he had taken out Kuno, tried to protest.

"Genryu, he's got to be really strong! You saw how fast he took out Kuno! And besides, he IS your brother! Wouldn't that make him more or less your equal in fighting?"

Genryu stopped to stare at Akane in shock. "My EQUAL?! Akane, you don't know a thing! Ranma's always been weaker than me, even back when we were little kids! Just before Pops took me on that training trip, I remember trashing Ranma in a simple exercise! Then he had to go and run away, he was so weak!"

Akane spoke in a shocked whisper. "Run away?" She glanced at Ranma from the corner of her eye, seeing him gazing at Genryu with extreme dislike etched onto his features. Then she looked Ranma over again. There was no mistaking his muscular physique, and the grace with which he moved. "But Genryu-"

Genryu interrupted, putting his foot in his mouth as he usually did. "Ah shut up ya tomboy! Have some faith in me once in a while!"

Akane felt a few veins pop out on her head. She restrained herself form grinding Genryu into the dirt. Again. Instead she merely turned her back on him in a huff. "Fine. I don't know why I'm so worried about an arrogant jerk like you anyway!"

"Oh yeah, well I don't need the concern of a stupid, violent tomboy like you!"

Ranma just stood to the side, watching them with a confused expression. He made a quick scan of their auras, and couldn't hold back a chuckle at what he found. Both Genryu and Akane turned to him, hearing the chuckle.

"And what's so funny?!"

Ranma looked at Genryu, his voice containing a definite note of humor. "Are you two engaged?"

Genryu and Akane felt their anger sputter out. (How did he...?)

Ranma explained, as if he could read their minds. "Neither of you are wearing a wedding band, but the two of you bicker like a married couple."

Just as Genryu and Akane opened their mouths to give their usual protests, Kuno regained consciousness. He struggled to his feet with a series of pained grunts and pops as his joints reset themselves. Akane and Genryu looked on, not surprised in the least. Ranma's eyebrows rose of their own accord.

"Talk about resilient. He should've stayed down for another three hours."

Kuno sought out the source of his current state and soon found him. He raised his bokken and charged forward. Or rather, stumbled forward. Several people thought that Kuno had merely started to fall and was now trying to stay upright, and just happened to be stumbling toward his intended target.

"Foul Demon, I fight on! The wrath of Heaven is slow but sure! I shall always rise again until you have been struck down by my most righteous technique!"

Ranma merely looked on, a smile on his face. "Good. I can always use a laugh."

Then Kuno stumbled into striking distance. Instead of punching him, Ranma merely raised his left hand, the index finger extended, and placed his finger in the center of Kuno's forehead. Ranma then gave what appeared to be a light shove. Only instead of falling over, Kuno shot backwards as if he were fired form a gun until he collided with the school wall, which exploded around him into a cloud of dust and cement fragments.

The audience looked on in shock as Kuno crumpled to the ground amidst pieces of cement and dust. Then whispers broke out again.

"Did you see that?!"

"...with one finger..."

"...barely a love tap..."

"...look at the wall..."

"Dibs!"

"...no way, you got..."

"...'s mine..."

Genryu looked on and finally got about to putting his jaw back into place. Then he saw Ranma turn slightly to look at him, a dangerous and slightly feral grin on his face.

"Care to try _your _luck, little brother?"

Genryu instantly bristled as the crowd was once again silenced. "Alright, Right here, Right now!!"

Genryu quickly fell into a stance and charged, preparing for a roundhouse kick, followed up by a hammer blow to the back. Ranma would be downed instantly.

Ranma, however, simply waited for a moment until Genryu got within range. Just as Genryu gathered his feet underneath him to leap into the air, Ranma struck, blurring slightly as he stepped forward with his left foot and struck out with his left hand in an open palm strike. Ranma's strike took Genryu in the stomach, and Genryu folded over the blow slightly, the air driven from his lungs.

Genryu was thrown a few feet away as the force of the blow caught up with his body, and he curled into a ball, gasping for breath and wondering just how much damage he had taken. His entire body hurt, and felt really funny. After regaining his breath, Genryu climbed to his feet only to find that his legs felt like wet noodles, and that he could barely stand. His arms didn't feel any better, and he could feel a serious stomach ache coming on.

(What in the hell was that?! I couldn't have taken all this damage from just one blow, and surely not form a simple palm strike! What did he _do_?!)

Ranma, for his part, looked fairly disappointed. "Well, if that's all you can take...I must say, I'm rather disappointed Genryu. I expected so much more from you." Ranma turned to leave, tucking his left hand into his cloak pocket.

"Wait!!"

Ranma stopped and looked over his shoulder.

"We're...not done...yet..."

Ranma snorted. "Don't be ridiculous. You can barely stand. If you want to truly fight me, then issue a formal challenge."

Genryu ground his teeth. "Fine...This Friday, at the...football field...just after school."

Ranma nodded, then started walking. Akane rushed to Genryu just as his legs gave out and she caught him before he could hit the ground.

"Come on, I better get you to Dr. Tofu's."

Genryu didn't protest as Akane helped him to his feet and supported him to the Dr. Tofu's clinic, making the blue haired girl rather worried about just how injured he really was.

:Tofu's Clinic:

Dr. Tofu looked over Genryu, his brow creased in puzzlement. Genryu was currently sitting on a patient bed, shirtless, with Akane occupying a nearby stool, looking on with concern.

"So, Doc, what's the verdict?"

Tofu stood up and sat down in a nearby chair while considering the answer to Genryu's question. Finally, Tofu spoke, asking a few questions.

"First, tell me where you were hit, Genryu, and how many times."

Genryu frowned and mumbled something. Akane, seeing this, spoke for him.

"Honestly, Genryu, you should just tell him. Dr, he was struck only once, in the stomach."

Tofu nodded while rubbing at his chin with his right hand. "I thought as much."

Akane and Genryu blinked in surprise. "You...did?"

Tofu nodded and stood up, walking over to his bookshelf. He glanced over the book titles, finally grabbing one, speaking as he searched. "Yes. A few years ago, an archeologist friend of mine sent me a copy of an old manuscript he had discovered dealing with the martial arts. The manuscript gave a brief description of a fighting style called 'The Gentle Fist.'"

Tofu opened the book and found the page he was looking for before he handed the book to Genryu, who glanced over the page. Akane came over to look over Genryu's shoulder while Tofu continued.

"It seems that this fighting style was created by a group of Tibetan monks who believed in self defense. These monks devised a style of combat that would allow them to defend themselves against even the most durable of foes without actually killing them. The style was one of the most powerful ever created, as you could cripple, or even kill, with a single blow to anywhere on the body. The strange thing is, the style was almost totally composed of palm strikes and some of the more advanced moves involved finger jabs."

Genryu blinked as he thought about Tofu's words, mentally comparing them to Ranma's attack. 'As you could cripple, or even kill, with a single blow...composed almost totally of palm strikes.' Ranma had hit him with a palm strike, and Genryu had almost gone down. Genryu returned his attention to Tofu as the doctor started speaking.

"The manuscript didn't go into how the style truly worked, but from the descriptions in it I've developed a theory about how it works. And seeing Genryu's injury has backed up that theory slightly."

Genryu handed the book to Akane and looked at Tofu. "So, what's the theory Doc?"

Tofu frowned as he once again rubbed at his chin. "The theory is rather simple in explanation. As a Gentle Fist fighter strikes his opponent, he releases ki from the palm of his hand or the tips of his fingers, and pushes it into the opponent's body. The result wouldn't really hurt right away, depending on the power of the strike, but as the battle goes on, you would most certainly feel the effects. Especially in your ki system."

Genryu nodded. His ki had been feeling really weird ever since Ranma got lucky.

"Even someone as durable as Ryoga couldn't stand against this style."

Genryu blinked in surprise. "Why not?"

Tofu shook his head as he sat down, letting his arms rest on the arms of the chair. "Even if you block the strikes the damage is still done, and there's no way to train your internal organs, which take the damage. You said you have a stomach ache right?"

At Genryu's nod, Tofu continued.

"Well, that's because Gentle Fist targets a person's internal organs. You're lucky he didn't strike you in the chest. I think that you'll be down for a few days, not able to do anything to strenuous, but if he hit your chest, the damage to your heart and lungs would've made you bedridden for over a week. 'Sigh'... there's one thing that truly troubles me about this."

Akane looked up from the book. "What's that Dr. Tofu?"

Tofu pinched the bridge of his nose before answering. "Remember how I said that an archeologist sent me the manuscript? Well, he discovered several. None of them went into the inner workings of the style, probably a security measure. However, one scroll contained a list of everyone who ever studied the style, master and student alike. What day and year they were born, and what day and year they died."

Tofu leaned back and stared up at the ceiling for a moment.

"It should be impossible for someone to know the style in this day and age."

"Why?"

Tofu dropped his gaze to the two teenagers, who were gazing at him with interest.

"Because the last practitioner of the Gentle Fist died well over seven hundred years ago."

:Tendo Residence:

_Because the last practitioner of the Gentle Fist died well over seven hundred years ago._

Genryu was lying on his back in the room he shared with his father, staring up at the ceiling above him, hearing Dr. Tofu's words running through his head repeatedly. (How could Ranma, who had no talent when it came to fighting, have learned a style that died out centuries ago? It doesn't make sense.) Genryu held his left hand up, wincing slightly as his arm protested. He studied his hand for a moment, and then a look of intense concentration came over his face as he took his ki and tried to expel it from his hand. All that happened was his battle aura materialized around his hand momentarily. He shook his head and let his battle aura vanish, and his arm dropped down onto the floor.

(Looks like it really was a fluke, since I can't do it. In any case, this Friday will be an easy fight. Even if Ranma can get lucky a second time, I'm going to be watching for it.) With that final thought, Genryu shut his eyes and let sleep take him.

:Nearby:

On a roof across the street a figure stood, concealed quite well in the darkness of night, looking into Genryu's room through the window. The eyes of the figure were focused on Genryu's prone form.

A break in the clouds above let some moonlight filter down, revealing the figure to be Ranma, still wearing his black cloak, his hand in his pockets. After Ranma had walked away from Genryu, he had trailed his younger brother all day, learning quite a bit about him.

First and foremost was the fact that Genryu was considered to be the best martial artist of his generation in the area, with a Hibiki Ryoga one step behind him. Second was that Genryu was cursed to turn into a girl with cold water, and then back to a boy with warm. Third was that Genryu lived with a family called the Tendo's, and that he and Genma were freeloading guests. Fourth was that Genryu was engaged to the youngest Tendo, Akane, who Ranma had gotten directions from earlier that day. And the last thing Ranma had learned about his younger brother was that he was also engaged to a young Chinese Amazon by the name of Shampoo, who was now living in Nerima with her great-grandmother Cologne, another Chinese Amazon of incredible age and experience.

(Speaking of Amazons, I'd better do something about those two watching me.) Ranma grinned slightly as he called out, his voice casual. "You can come out now. Hiding behind that air conditioning unit isn't working."

Instantly two blurs shot from behind the large blocky structure and headed for Ranma, who had yet to turn around. He grinned slightly as he waited. Once the two blurs were practically on top of him, Ranma moved. He jumped straight up, letting the blows aimed at his back pass harmlessly underneath him, and flipped backwards in mid-air, landing on his feet behind his assailants. They turned around to face him, falling into battle stances as they did so. Ranma looked on, impassively, his hands still in his pockets, totally relaxed.

The two that had just attacked him were almost completely opposite of each other. Other than the facts that they were female, related, and both Chinese amazons, they didn't have anything in common.

One was rather young, about Ranma's age, and was wearing a purple and white fighting outfit that displayed her female assets while also allowing freedom of movement. She had long, lavender hair that flowed freely down her back, with two slightly gaudy pins in it. In each hand she held a bonbori, a heavy Chinese mace, with little strain apparent in her arms. Ranma assumed her name was Shampoo, the younger female Amazon he had heard about in Nerima.

The other was, in contrast, incredibly old, short, and wrinkled. Normally, she'd only stand about two feet tall, but as she was perfectly balanced on a three-foot staff of wood, she stood about five feet tall. She was dressed in the robes of a village elder, and Ranma could sense that the robes were well deserved. She had a well of experience within her, and a huge amount of ki to back the experience up. This had to be Cologne.

Cologne studied him for a moment before speaking, her voice gravely with age. "Well, you most certainly are Son-in-law's brother. You bare a strong resemblance to him, both physically and spiritually."

Ranma looked back, his grin still in place. "There a reason you attacked me?"

Shampoo took a step forward, holding her bonbori a little higher. "You no hurt Airen! Shampoo no let you!"

Ranma blinked in surprise as Shampoo crouched down, preparing to charge. Just as the muscles tightened in her legs, Cologne reached over and placed a restraining hand on her shoulder.

"Don't attack him on your own, child. He's too strong for you to handle alone."

Ranma's grin turned into a smirk of its own accord. He felt his pride show through slightly as he spoke. "Truth be told, neither of you stand a chance, even working together. But you, Cologne, look to be quite a rare challenge. Fighting you would be something to look forward to." Ranma's smirk then turned into a frown. "But I won't fight since that would mean I would either have to kill you two, or end up being married to you. Neither option is very likable at the moment."

With that, Ranma turned and started walking away. Shampoo bristled but Cologne's hand kept her calm enough to keep her from recklessly charging forward.

"The marriage laws are exempt for this battle. Shampoo already has a husband, and I'm too old to want to go chasing after a man. And even if that wasn't the case, as this is a battle for the protection of the tribe, the laws are still exempt."

Cologne released Shampoo, letting the girl charge forward while Cologne circled around to behind Ranma as he turned to deal with Shampoo. Ranma kept his relaxed, non-combative stance, his hands still in his pockets, as Shampoo reached him. She made a horizontal swing at his head with her left bonbori, followed by a thrust with her right. Ranma ducked under the first blow, and dodged to the left of the second, then had to jump to avoid a sweep kick as Shampoo crouched down and struck out with her right leg. He landed and made another small jump, this time taking himself a few feet away from Shampoo. In response, Shampoo brought her legs underneath her; gathering her strength for a powerful, if low in height, leap into the air. She jumped toward Ranma, striking out with both bonbori as she flew at him. He dodged to the left, letting her fly by, and was forced to duck as she spun in midair, striking out with both legs in an attempt to wrap her legs around his neck.

At that moment, Cologne came at him from behind, striking out with her staff, the wood blurring as she used the pointed end in an attempt to hit several shiatsu points. Ranma spun around, still crouching, and grabbed the end of the staff with his right hand, looking Cologne in the eyes.

"So, what's this about 'protecting the tribe'? I'm not attacking you or Shampoo."

Cologne hid her surprise at Ranma's strength as she found that her staff was held tightly, and she couldn't reclaim it. Her voice held a note of respect as she answered. "We're protecting Son-in-law from you. You have a match with him this Friday, and I fear you may kill him during the match."

Ranma nodded. "Then you may rest assured. I may not like him, but Genryu is my brother, and I won't kill or cripple him."

Cologne merely shook her head, then shoved forward unexpectedly with her staff while Shampoo came in from behind, swinging her bonbori toward Ranma's shoulders in an attempt to break them. In response, Ranma released Cologne's staff and leapt into the air so fast that he blurred slightly. The two bonbori crashed together with a dull 'CLANK' and Ranma did a 180 in the air, and landed on Shampoo's weapons, facing her. He crouched down so he could come closer to looking into her eyes, and she blinked up at him in surprise.

"You have talent, but against me you stand no chance."

Ranma flicked his right wrist and several long, thin needles suddenly dropped from within his cloak sleeve to his hand. He caught the needles between his fingers, the moonlight glinting off them. Shampoo saw the needles and instantly dropped her bonbori and leapt back. She landed in a combat stance just as Ranma leapt toward her, several needles appearing in his left hand as well. Shampoo leapt forward to engage him, ignoring Cologne's shout of "NO!"

Shampoo and Ranma passed each other, blurring slightly, and then stopped; both of them crouched down slightly. For a moment they stood still. Then Ranma stood up and turned to face Shampoo, who suddenly collapsed, the needles that had been in Ranma's hands now stuck at several key points in Shampoo's body. Cologne rushed forward and caught her great granddaughter before she could hit the ground and drive the needles deeper into her flesh.

Cologne's eyes narrowed as she held Shampoo's limp form. (Acupuncture needles? And their placement...those are merely spots that cause unconsciousness. So he wasn't aiming to kill her...What he said may be true.) Cologne looked up to study Ranma, who was looking at her, hands back in his pockets, totally relaxed.

"She'll sleep deeply for a few hours after you pull the needles out." Cologne merely grunted in reply, lowering Shampoo gently to the ground so as not to jar the needles, and Ranma grinned. "She's a very pretty girl. In time, I'd say she'll be downright stunning."

Cologne stepped over Shampoo, holding her staff before her. "Flattery will not stop this fight."

Ranma's grin vanished. "I already told you that I won't kill or cripple Genryu on Friday. There's no reason for you to fight me."

"No, I have one reason left." Cologne moved forward another step, and Ranma removed his hands from his pockets, studying her. "My pride."

Cologne shot forward, moving so fast that to most eyes she would've disappeared except for the occasional spot where she reappeared in mid-motion. She covered the distance between herself and Ranma and struck out with her staff, moving it at a speed and skill born from a lifetime of studying martial arts.

Ranma grinned as his right hand blurred forward, blocking or turning aside every attack. This attack moved much faster, and held more power, than her earlier attempt to strike the shiatsu points in his back. For a moment, Ranma thought he might even need to use both hands to defend himself. Then Cologne redoubled her efforts with a cry of "Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken!" and Ranma brought his left hand into play.

Soon Cologne's attack took its toll on her, and she backed off. Ranma grinned at her as she cursed under her breath. (Not one strike made it through!! Damn!)

Ranma stood before her, his left hand held out before him with his right. "Not bad."

Cologne frowned as she decided to use another technique. Since attacking Ranma from the front had done nothing, even with the Chestnut Fist, she decided to up the ante. Ranma blinked as Cologne suddenly split into two separate images. The two images then split again, becoming four, and again, becoming six, and again until Ranma was completely surrounded by identical images of Cologne. The images started to rotate around him, and Ranma grinned.

Cologne, now deep within the Splitting Cats Hairs techniques, decided on her first angle of attack. While the images rotated, and appearing not to move, she drew back her staff in preparation for striking Ranma on his right side, when he suddenly turned toward her and struck out with his fist. Cologne brought her staff up to block, and as the fist impacted it and sent her flying away, dispelling the illusions, she heard Ranma speak, his voice quiet.

"Too slow."

As Cologne flew through the air, she felt a strong surge of ki from Ranma. She flipped over in the air to land on her feet, and then blinked in shock as she saw Ranma. Or rather, seven of him. Seven identical Ranmas looked at her with seven identical grins. As a wind blew across the roof they were on, the hair of each of the nine Ranma's blew about, signaling that this was an illusionary technique that stressed attention to detail.

Cologne placed her staff before, studying the elder Saotome brother and doing her best to spot the real Ranma. As her eyes switched from one Ranma to another, calculating, she spoke. "I must admit, I'm impressed. But there is only one real Ranma, and six illusions."

Cologne charged forward and the seven Ranmas grinned at her before they too charged. Cologne withdrew one hand to inside her robe and when it reappeared it held a small, white packet. As Cologne drew back her arm, the white packet held in between the tips of her fingers, she called out to Ranma, her voice triumphant.

"This will show the real you to me!"

She threw the packet so that it hit the ground right in front of the charging Ranmas, and it exploded, shooting a fine, white powder into the air. Cologne's plan was simple. Those that passed through without disturbing the white cloud would be illusions. The one that did disturb the powder was real. She narrowed her eyes and altered her perceptions slightly, making everything seem to slow down so she could see who would disturb the powder. So when the seven Ranmas passed through the powder, she saw perfectly how each and every one of them disturbed it, cutting a path through the white cloud not with illusionary, intangible bodies, but with true, solid, physical bodies.

Which meant one thing; those weren't illusions. She was facing seven real Ranmas.

Cologne almost did something she hadn't done in a hundred years. She almost panicked. As the seven Ranmas maneuvered themselves so that they surrounded her in a circle, all Cologne could do was stare. She had no knowledge of a technique that could create actual bodies. She didn't even have rumors or theories that such a thing could actually exist. To see a completely new wonder was so shocking that she almost forgot that she was in a fight. But as the Ranmas around her crouched down, she brought her staff up into a defensive position.

The Ranmas studied her, taking in her stance. Then as one they spoke. "Forbidden Secret Technique: The Prism of Seven." One Ranma stepped forward and Cologne focused on him as he started to speak. "I don't usually use this technique, but since you used such a low level illusionary technique against me, I thought that showing you this would impress upon you just how outclassed you really are."

He relaxed, as did the others, coming out of their combat stances and tucking their hands into their pockets as the one Ranma continued to speak. "As you've no doubt noticed, all seven of us are real. We each have as much power of the original, so basically I've just multiplied my power by seven. Will you concede defeat, or will you force me to put a stop to this game?"

Cologne considered her options carefully. She knew that she should back down. But her pride would not allow it. She was the Amazon Matriarch, and backing down was not possible. Not while she still had a trick up her sleeve. Cologne brought her staff to her side, and slid down, preparing herself for using her next technique.

"I still have one attack that can end this, even against seven of you. Now come, Saotome Ranma, and taste one of the strongest attacks of the Chinese Amazons, developed after several hundred years!"

The Ranma that had spoken gave a sigh of resignation as the other six backed away, giving the remaining Ranma and Cologne more room to maneuver. Cologne frowned. "This technique can easily defeat seven. Why do the other six back away?"

"Because they aren't needed. If you can defeat one of us, then the match will be declared as yours."

Cologne's eyes widened at the unexpected but welcome news and she nodded. "Then come."

Ranma studied her for a moment. Then he came at her, moving with impressive speed. He struck out at her with a straight jab and Cologne dodged to the left, then leaped into the air over one of Ranma's kicks. Cologne continued to back away while Ranma continued to strike at her, usually missing by a few millimeters.

As Ranma's fist once again missed by a fraction of an inch, he considered what Cologne was doing. (She's always dodging to her left, and she seems to be running in a circle.) His brows knit in concentration as another blow missed and he realized that they had just passed the spot where they had started. (No...she's moving in a spiral...and her aura is an ice aura...) He grinned. (Well then, if she's going to use that as her 'attack that can end this' who am I to stop her? Let's see what you've got Cologne.)

Ranma started to release a very small fraction of his ki, and focused it into a fire aura, releasing heat. Cologne thought that Ranma was getting frustrated at being unable to strike her and she kept leading him tighter and tighter into the spiral as Ranma's aura of heat slowly grew.

Cologne actually had a small sheen of sweat on her brow as she continued to move, dodging Ranma's strikes. (One more step...and...There!!) "Victory Is Mine! Hiryu Shoten HA!!" Cologne gave an uppercut that didn't even touch Ranma, instead blasting her own cold aura into his hot aura, thus completing the technique and summoning up a wind dragon to cart Ranma up to the higher reaches of the atmosphere.

Only Cologne's fist didn't connect with a heat aura. It connected with another cold aura. Cologne stared in astonishment as she realized what Ranma had done.

At the last second Ranma had instantly switched his aura from hot to cold, thus negating the effects of the spiral and stopping Cologne's last attack. Cologne calculated the time that was necessary for such a feat, since her fist was already rocketing upward toward his aura before he had changed it. She came up with somewhere under a second, something she herself couldn't do. Switching one's aura around was a tricky and difficult business, and to do so with any level of quickness required a massive level of control over one's ki. Cologne had clocked her fastest aura change to just over five seconds, setting what was supposedly an unbreakable record in the Amazon tribe.

As Ranma took a few steps back, snapping Cologne from her reverie as he started speaking. "I was surprised that you would use such a low level air dragon technique as your trump card. Still, the strategy was sound enough. If it had been against a group of other people, you would've won."

Ranma clenched his right hand into a fist, and Cologne watched as she felt him gather a small amount of ki into that hand.

"For giving me such a rare challenge I'll show you a move that's similar, but more powerful."

Ranma then gave a single uppercut, and a small twister formed as his arm traveled upward. Once his arm had completed the uppercut, the twister, about as high as Ranma was tall and only about two feet in diameter, suddenly shot across the roof to Cologne, who stood still, staring in shock. A moment later the small tornado hit her. And suddenly wasn't quite so small anymore. A tornado easily ten feet in diameter suddenly enveloped Cologne and carried her into the air.

She let the tornado run its course, only resisting it enough to prevent any injury to herself. After nearly a full three minutes, the tornado dispersed, dropping Cologne back down to the roof. She landed easily and looked around, noting the disappearance of Ranma and his six duplicates.

Police sirens in the distance caught her attention, and she pogoed over to Shampoo, who was still unconscious. Cologne gathered up her great-granddaughter, and headed back toward the restaurant, thinking about the eldest Saotome brother and wondering what else he had up his sleeve.

:Author's Note:

Ah, finally finished with that chapter. Hope everyone liked it, please review and tell me what you think. And don't worry, Ranma's past will be revealed as it comes back to haunt him.


	4. Chapter 3: Agreements

Chapter 3: Agreements.

Tendo Nabiki was not having a good week. She didn't look any different, didn't act any different, but she was just a few steps short of ripping her hair out. She had a veritable gold mine in front of her, and she couldn't exploit it!! It was Thursday, and all week Nabiki had been trying to find Genryu's older brother. She could just feel the yen that was waiting. The fact that several students had come to Nabiki asking for photos or information about this Saotome Ranma helped with the illusion. There was only one problem.

Saotome Ranma had vanished. Nabiki had her flunkies scoring the city for him, but not one came back with a favorable report. There wasn't one rumor of a young man with a pigtail dressed in black.

As Nabiki turned the corner and her house came into view, she tried her best to shove the feelings of frustration to the back of her mind. She still had other business to conduct, and the water and electricity bills were due in three days. Nabiki knew that they didn't have enough to pay, not without dipping once again into her private account, so she had a lot of hope riding on the fight tomorrow. If Ranma didn't show, or he lost like Genryu was claiming Ranma would, then Nabiki was in trouble.

Nabiki sighed as she reached the gate to her home, and slid it open. As her home came into view, Nabiki saw that Kasumi was, predictably, cleaning, sweeping the walkway. Nabiki walked passed her older sister with a nod, and was about to open the door to the house when Kasumi called to her.

"Oh, Nabiki, you have a visitor. He said he'd wait for you in your room."

Nabiki nodded to her sister and entered the house, slipping her shoes off. As she placed them in their usual place she saw something that made her heart skip a beat. A pair of shoes, those of her visitor, sat in one corner of the entryway. The shoes were black boots. Nabiki spun around to look at the coat rack, and felt her heart skip another beat when she saw a familiar black cloak hanging from a peg. (It can't be...He couldn't simply vanish then suddenly show up...)

Nabiki ran to her room, taking the stairs two at a time, and practically screeching to a stop in front of her door, composing herself. After taking a deep breath, she opened the door to her room, and instantly spotted her visitor.

Saotome Ranma sat in the chair in front of her desk, facing the door, grinning at her. "Yo."

Nabiki walked into her room, hanging her book bag on a peg near the door, and walked over to her bed, the only other place to sit. Once she made herself comfortable, she studied Ranma.

He sat relaxed in the chair, his right leg resting on his left knee, his arms resting on the arms of the chair. He was dressed totally in black, with a v-neck tank top with netting across the v, a black sash with silver kanji sown into it, and black pants. He slouched slightly in the chair, looking her straight in the eyes. Out of the corner of her eye, Nabiki noticed a manila envelope resting on her desk.

Nabiki spoke first, her eyes and voice calculating. "I assume this isn't a social call."

Ranma nodded while he reached behind himself and grabbed the manila envelope. "Afraid not, as much as I would like a good conversation. This is a business meeting." He tossed the envelope to her. "A peace offering and a point."

Nabiki opened the envelope and pulled out the contents and felt her eyes widen of their own accord. Pictures. Of Ranma. For the most part, the pictures were of him simply standing still, or walking down the street. But they were all good. However, two in particular caught her eye. One picture was of Ranma sitting cross-legged underneath a tree. There was a slight breeze as his hair was being blown about slightly, and he was without his cloak, revealing the clothes underneath, the same ones he was wearing now. His arms were placed very casually in his lap, revealed by the tank top, and the picture hinted at just how lean and muscular Ranma was. He was looking at something off camera, an unusual expression on his face that Nabiki couldn't identify. But she was sure that the picture would sell for a lot.

The next picture, though, took her breath away. This one would sell for a small fortune. It was again of Ranma, but where the previous picture merely hinted, this picture fully displayed. Ranma was crouched down in a combat stance, apparently training, shirtless and shoeless, and he had a look of intense concentration on his face. His right arm was held out before him, bent at the elbow, while his left was held at his side, giving a full view of his upper body. A light layer of sweat covered him, throwing his body into a higher level of detail. Nabiki felt her mouth water slightly as she took in the whole picture.

Eventually Nabiki turned to the next picture, as there were five left, and felt a bit of confusion flow into her. It was a picture of...her? She was at school, and surrounded by her flunkies. She remembered the event as being when they had first reported no sightings of Ranma. Nabiki felt a slight touch of ironic humor. (Please don't tell me he took this. That's so sad, we've been searching for him all week and he was less than five feet away from us and we didn't know.) Then as Nabiki flipped through the next three pictures, seeing that they were also of her, she began to frown. All of the pictures were taken pretty close, at moments when Nabiki could distinctly remember there being no one around, and no places for them to hide. Which meant that Ranma had gotten close to her without her even knowing.

Then she flipped to the last picture and gasped, feeling blood rush to her face. For a moment, she simply stared at the picture, shocked. Then she looked at Ranma, who wasn't grinning anymore, and she gestured with the picture in her hand, her voice angry. "What is the meaning of this?!"

"That, and the other four pictures of you, is the point, Tendo Nabiki."

Nabiki looked once again at the picture in her hand. It was once again of her, taken yesterday right after she had gotten home, as she remembered the event taking place in the picture quite well.

Yesterday had been the day Nabiki had gotten the bills from the electric and water company, and she knew that it would be a struggle to make ends meet. She had gone to school that day determined to make quite a bit of money so that she could feel more secure about the bills. But school had been a very unfulfilling day financially, and Nabiki had gone home with only a few extra yen and feeling as if her entire body was locking up from the stress. So, she had decided to...relax. She had searched the house top to bottom to make sure that no one was home. Kasumi was out getting groceries, Genryu and Akane were off somewhere, and Soun and Genma were out, probably drinking. So, Nabiki had gone up to her room, locked the door, and relieved some stress.

Nabiki felt her eyebrow twitch as she once again looked at the picture. In it, she was laying on her bed, still in her school uniform. Somewhat. The blouse was open, and her bra was shoved up above her breasts, while her skirt was hiked up high as well, and her panties on the floor somewhere. Nabiki had her left hand on her breast, while her right was reaching somewhat lower, in between her legs, which were spread to allow easier access. The picture was taken from the foot of the bed, giving whoever looked at it a very clear view of...well, everything. And from the look of things in the picture, she was in mid-moan.

Nabiki looked back at Ranma as he started speaking.

"You have three choices, Miss Tendo. 1: You can work with me in a mutually advantageous business relationship. 2: You can leave me completely alone. No pictures aside from those I've just handed you, no information, nothing. I will be totally exempt from any of your business dealings. Or 3: You can go behind my back and run your business as you usually do, getting pictures through secrecy, and completely ignoring what I want."

Nabiki remained silent, waiting for Ranma to continue.

"I, however, will not sit by idly and let you do that, like my younger brother. If you go with choice number three, I'll crush you so fast you won't be able to blink. I now have proof of several of your illegal practices, including, but not exclusive to, blackmail. There are several people on the police force that would love to see you vanish. I also have not just a picture of yesterday, but an entire video tape, including audio, of you searching your house and then coming into this room. I'm sure all of Japan would just love to know about your tattoo."

Nabiki blushed slightly and glared at him. Ranma merely grinned slightly at her as he continued.

"Now then, I'll explain what choice number one entails in more detail. I'll provide you with pictures and information about myself. In return, you give me some information that I want, and you only sell what I give you. I'll have control over what the public knows about me."

After hearing that, Nabiki didn't even have to think about the choices. "I'll take choice number one please."

Ranma nodded, then reached into the pocket of his pants and withdrew two plastic black cylinders. "Here are two rolls of film of nothing but me. One of them holds the pictures that you already have. The other holds other pictures, giving you a variety to sell. If you hurry, you can have a lot to sell tomorrow before the fight."

He placed the two cylinders on her desk and continued.

"And that brings me to the next order of business, an inside scoop on the fight."

Nabiki nodded, waiting.

"Genryu will lose. No matter what he does, how hard he trains for how long, he'll never be able to beat me. Not now. If you place the stakes right, you can rake in the cash."

Nabiki once again nodded, planning how to make the biggest profit tomorrow.

"And now to the last thing I wish to discuss with you today."

Nabiki refocused her attention on Ranma in surprise. He was looking back at her with a neutral expression on his face.

"I suggest you give up all of your illegal operations as soon as possible. Destroy all of the evidence."

Nabiki made a sound not unlike that a mouse makes when it's trod on in the back of her throat. She opened her mouth to protest, and Ranma held up his hand to stop her.

"This suggestion is made for your own good. I, personally, don't care if you have several operations that are completely illegal. Even the blackmailing and underground porn operations you have don't matter to me. You use the money you gain from them to keep your family afloat, a very honorable thing. And while I do realize that the operations form a large percentage of your total income, and it could possibly be financially fatal to suddenly close up shop on them, think of what would happen if you were suddenly brought to trial for them."

Nabiki closed her mouth, and looked down at the carpet, feeling a chill pass through her. She constantly thought about what could happen if she were ever found out.

"You are the only source of income for you family. If you were to suddenly disappear, your family would instantly nose dive into the red, and keep on going. And you would be put away for a _very_ long time."

Ranma stood up from the chair, turning toward the door.

"It was just a suggestion Nabiki, but I hope you'll take it. You're a smart, pretty girl. You'll think of something."

As he headed for the door, Nabiki called out to him, asking one last question. "Wait. Will I ever get the original film of yesterday?"

Ranma stopped at looked back at her over his shoulder. "No. If you stop all of your illegal operations, the only real weapon I have that isn't life threatening is the video." Then he grinned. "Besides, I'd have to be dead to not like watching someone so pretty doing something like that."

Nabiki felt blood rush to her face as Ranma opened the door and walked out, letting it close behind him with a click. She picked up the picture of Ranma training, looking over its surface as she felt heat rise in other places of her body. (Well, well, this is going to be interesting...)

One Saotome Genma arrived home, after working at Tofu's clinic, just in time to see a strange young man walk out of the Tendo home. He was dressed from head to toe in black, and was wearing a black cloak. As he passed Kasumi, who was still sweeping, he inclined his head to her. She smiled in return, asking a question that carried across the entryway to Genma.

"Oh, Ranma, I hope you were able to finish your business with Nabiki."

Genma stopped. Ranma? It can't be...no, it must be a coincidence. Genma's eldest child had gone missing over ten years ago. Genma shook his head and was about to head toward the house when he saw the young man pass him. The young man didn't stop, didn't hesitate, as he passed Genma.

But as Ranma passed him, something rather odd happened to Genma. He suddenly felt every muscle in his body seize up, and an incredible chill go down the wet noodle he called a spine. And for the briefest moment, he could've sworn Ranma glanced at Genma out of the corner of his eye. The moment Ranma did so, Genma felt a sharp pain in his gut, along with a deadly chill, as if someone had just run him through with an ice cold sword. And although no words were spoken, Genma also heard two words echo in the air, sending cold chills throughout his entire body.

Then the moment passed and Ranma walked out the gate, letting it shut behind him. Genma stood, shivering, almost totally paralyzed. He felt sweat drip down his brow as he drew in a ragged breath, his throat raw, as if he had been screaming for an hour. Genma slowly ran a hand over his fat belly, checking to see if he had been run through somehow. The relief that ran through him was short lived as the words he had heard once again ran through his mind. Genma all but ran into the house in search of a sake bottle, the words echoing constantly in his head.

"Hello father."

:A bus stop near the outskirts of Nerima:

The bus pulled in and rolled gently to a stop, the doors opening to allow the passengers off. The group that climbed off the bus stop wasn't that unusual with only two exceptions. They were the last off of the bus, and people blinked in surprise before going on their way.

Mascara looked around, nodding in satisfaction, while Lotion merely waited for her grandaunt to lead the way to this 'Cat Cafe' that the Matriarch Cologne had set up. Without a word, Mascara set out, Lotion following. They had to get settled, using the Cat Cafe as their headquarters, and then they would go out searching for the young man.

:Author's Notes:

Well, another chapter done. I hope you all liked it, and I hope you all will review for it. And for those of you who have already reviewed, all of your questions will be answered in the story. What's been happening to Ranma, who he is and all that.


	5. Chapter 4: Preperations

Added disclaimer: At this point I would like to add that it has been brought to my attention who came up with the name Genryu. The author Carrotglace wrote the fic The Three Saotomes where the younger brother has the name Genryu. The reviewers, Kura-kun and Dwaje, brought this fact to my attention, and I would like to thank them both.

Chapter 4: Preparations

:Neko-Hanten, closing time:

Shampoo bowed to the last customer of the day as the door shut behind them before letting out a relieved breath. As she turned around to start cleaning tables, she stretched, reaching high above her head with her arms and rising to the balls of her feet, trying to work out some kinks in her muscles. Today had been a busy day.

As Shampoo approached the first table to clean, wishing she hadn't knocked Mouse out cold earlier that day, she heard the door open behind her. Shampoo turned to tell the person entering that the establishment was closed for the day until she saw who had entered. Instead, She kneeled, bowed her head, and raised her left hand out to the new comer, her right hand placed over her heart. Only when she felt an old and calloused hand lightly touch her own did Shampoo rise. She opened her mouth but was cut off by the distinct sound of her great grandmother pogoing into the room.

Cologne's voice carried across the room, the old matriarch knowing full well who had just entered the restaurant. "Child, please take our guests luggage up to the spare bedrooms while I serve them some tea."

Shampoo nodded, but before she could even think of taking a bag from either woman, Mascara spoke, waving a hand nonchalantly.

"Never mind Shampoo. Neither of us have a bag for you to take."

Shampoo nodded again as Cologne pogoed over to a table and set the tray of tea onto it. Mascara and Lotion walked over to the table, Shampoo following when Cologne beckoned. As the four took seats, Cologne poured the tea and handed a cup to each person, saving the last cup for herself. For a moment, silence reigned as everyone slowly drank the tea before Cologne spoke.

"So, Mascara, what is your reason for being here in Japan?"

Mascara took another sip of tea before answering.

"Much the same reason you are here Cologne." When Shampoo stiffened Mascara frowned at her. "We are not here for Genryu. We are here to see if we can draw another male into the tribe, one far more powerful than your husband, Shampoo."

Cologne had a feeling that she knew who the stranger was. There was no reason for it to be him, no reason for the person Mascara was looking for to even be in Nerima. None except the sinking feeling in her gut. As Cologne stared into the contents of her teacup, she spoke, her voice quiet.

"By any chance, would this young man be about five feet, ten inches in height, with black hair tied back in a pigtail, gray blue eyes, and wearing a black cloak?"

Shampoo, who had just relaxed, once again stiffened, as did Lotion, while Mascara gazed at Cologne sharply before nodding once. Cologne sighed, saying, "I was afraid of that," before taking a sip of tea. Mascara's eyebrows rose slightly, the only signal she gave for Cologne to continue. After taking a moment to gather her thoughts, Cologne explained.

"His name is Saotome Ranma, and he appeared here in Nerima several days ago. I doubt he was in the city for more than ten minutes before encountering his younger brother, Son-in-law. Later that day I learned that he had dealt Son-in-law a single blow, defeating him, and arranging for a match tomorrow. Fearing that during the match he may kill or cripple Son-in-law, and thus negate any worth to the tribe, I set out, accompanied by Shampoo, to deal with this Ranma."

Lotion paled. If it had been only Shampoo who had attacked him, Ranma probably would've survived, but if Cologne attacked him, the young man was most certainly dead.

Cologne smiled reassuringly at the girl before continuing.

"He proved himself to be extremely powerful by defeating both my great-granddaughter and myself easily."

Lotion felt blood return to her face while Mascara released a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding. Cologne nodded once to Lotion before giving Mascara a significant look. The other elder nodded before speaking to Lotion.

"Niece, go up to your room and get settled."

Cologne turned to Shampoo, issuing her own instructions. "Child, show Lotion the way to her room, then go into the kitchen where you will find several deliveries that need to be done."

Shampoo and Lotion, both recognizing dismissals when they saw them, nodded and left. Once they were gone, Cologne refilled Mascara's cup of tea before refilling her own. Mascara took a sip from her tea before breaking the silence, her voice carefully even.

"I suppose that something happened in your encounter with Ranma."

Cologne nodded before explaining about Ranma's nearly instantaneous aura change. When she was done, Mascara merely nodded, taking the information in stride and considering it with what she already knew. Cologne's eyes narrowed slightly at seeing the other elder's reaction.

"It seems I'm not the only one who had something happen concerning Ranma."

Mascara nodded before speaking, her voice soft.

"The first time I met Ranma was at the tournament. The Jusenkyo Guide was showing him around the village, and I spotted him in the crowd almost immediately. I quickly went to him, and tried to find a way to establish physical contact after feeling his aura. I tried the westerner's tradition of shaking hands. Cologne," at this point, Mascara looked at the other woman, "He knew what I was doing. I could tell. He grinned at me, showing full well that he knew what I was about, and yet, he willingly shook hands with me."

Mascara fell silent, trying to compose what she knew into words, but found that she couldn't. Cologne waited expectantly, watching the other woman, before Mascara opened her mouth to speak.

"I can't put what I found into words Cologne. I'm sorry. I'm afraid you yourself will have to touch him, and then explain your findings to me. I'm afraid that the only things I'm sure of after that touch are these: Ranma is very powerful, and very, very dangerous."

Cologne nodded. Those two facts were already blatantly clear to her.

:Tendo Household:

Nabiki rounded the corner to her street, and walked to the doors leading into the Tendo Household, several bulging manila envelopes clasped protectively in her arms. As she neared the doors leading into the property, she hummed a happy tune quietly to herself, and she had a slight smile on her face. She opened the door into the Tendo compound and walked up to the house, when the smile suddenly vanished.

She knew that smell.

Nabiki slid open the door and walked into the entryway where she kicked off her shoes before running up to her room and stashing the folders in a special compartment in the wall. After making sure the compartment was closed, she left her room and walked down to the living room where she discovered the source of the smell, even as it made her lightheaded.

Soun and Genma, the latter of which was in panda form, were currently trying to dance. Their dancing skills, already less than stellar, were dramatically impeded by the half empty sake bottle each held in their free hand. When Nabiki glanced at the floor to discover nearly a dozen empty sake bottles, she couldn't help but wince as she mentally calculated just how much it would cost to replace the expensive rice wine that her father insisted they have plenty of.

Nabiki glanced around, hoping to find something to distract herself from the two men attempting the tango, when her eyes fell on both Akane and Genryu, the latter of which was rather sweaty and dirty, but grinning broadly. The two were seated at the table, doing their level best at ignoring Soun and Genma, and both glanced at Nabiki as she took a seat across from them, her back to the two abysmal dancers.

Nabiki took in Genryu's appearance in more detail, noting how he slumped against the table, his head resting on his arms, which were crossed on the table.

"Shouldn't you be resting up for your match with Ranma tomorrow?"

With her back to the two men behind her, Nabiki didn't notice how Genma suddenly froze, throwing Soun off balance and causing the man to crash to the ground. As their left hands were clasped, Genma followed suit a second later, falling onto Soun. The three teens at the table ignored the man and panda as Genryu raised his head slightly and flashed Nabiki a cocky grin.

"Plenty of time to rest before the match tomorrow in class."

Nabiki nodded, knowing Genryu spent more time asleep in class than paying attention. As Genryu continued, Nabiki felt an eyebrow climb up her forehead, and a faint feeling of uneasiness.

"'Sides, I wanted to practice my new technique as much as possible. I want to show my appreciation to him for giving me the idea by beating him with it."

Genma, still lying on Soun, held up a sign that said 'What's this about a match?' Nabiki turned around to study Genma, noticing Genryu and Akane looking behind her. Nabiki was surprised at how clear the handwriting on the sign was, since Genma was obviously plastered. Almost as if hearing Ranma's name had immediately sobered Genma up.

Surprise clearly showed on Genryu's face and in his voice as he asked, "Didn't you know Pops? Ranma's back. Been in town a couple a days. I've got a match with him tomorrow at school. You should come and watch me kick his ass."

Genma's sign flipped over to display, 'I just might, boy.' The fat panda then sat up straight, staring at his sign as if it had suddenly betrayed him, and allowing Soun to breathe.

At that moment, Kasumi walked in carrying a platter with food from which delicious aroma's were wafting. Genma suddenly forgot about how his sign had betrayed him and moved to the table with quickness that the Tendo family had long since gotten used to. A moment later, Soun joined them, having pried himself out of the floor.

:Roof of the Tendo Household:

One Saotome Ranma leaned back against the cool roof tiles beneath him, staring up at the stars, idly spinning a knife in his right hand. (So, Genryu's got a new technique, one that I gave him the idea for. Guess I'll have to keep tomorrow's fight simple, give him little to work with.) Ranma stood up, tucking the knife back into the sleeve of his cloak, before crouching down, and gathering power into his legs. A moment later, he launched himself nearly fifty feet into the air without a sound, leaving behind only a slight disturbance in the air as the only sign he had been there.

:Furinkan High, next day:

As Nabiki walked onto the campus the next day, several manila folders clamped in her arms, she noticed how the air was charged with an excitement only one of Genryu's matches could bring. She walked over to the designated spot reserved for her flunkies, dodging several people who sought her out. When Nabiki arrived at her destination, she found all of her flunkies ready and waiting. She grinned as she walked up to them, and several of them blinked in surprise at her expression.

It was time for business.

"Okay girls, we have work to do, so I'll be brief. We have two tasks during school. The first is to sell these, I've already written down the prices." Nabiki handed out a folder to each girl, waiting while they opened the folders. General sounds and motions of surprise abounded as the girls discovered the contents of the folders.

One turned to Nabiki and asked, "How did you get these!" She waved one picture of Ranma slightly hysterically.

Nabiki just grinned like a predator before simply saying, "I'm a professional."

Nabiki didn't so much as bat an eyebrow when she saw several of her flunkies slip some money into the folders and remove a picture or two for themselves.

"Right, onto the second bit of business: I want you all to spread the rumors that Genryu's got a new technique to use against Ranma, and that Genryu's gonna pound Ranma flat. Everyone understand?"

When everyone nodded, Nabiki said, "Then go to work."

The girls scattered, each heading for a certain area of the school where she'd sell pictures, and start the rumor mill going. Nabiki took a deep breath, and then started as a voice sounded behind her.

"_Genryu's_ going to pound _me_ flat?"

Nabiki spun to stare behind her. For a moment all she could see was nothing, but then the air not five feet from her seemed to ripple slightly, then Ranma faded into view, grinning at her. "If I didn't know better, Ms. Tendo, I would say you're trying to rig the game."

Nabiki quirked an eyebrow at him and Ranma chuckled before saying, "Which is something I myself have done in the past, so I'm in no position to judge. Rig away, Ms. Tendo."

Nabiki nodded, eyeing Ranma. The effort was rather mute since he was dressed in the same outfit as every other time she had seen him. She returned her attention to his eyes and spoke, her voice even.

"I wasn't lying about Genryu having a new technique. He says he's going to beat you with it."

Ranma just nodded. "I know. I heard him say it last night."

Nabiki's eyebrow once again climbed up her forehead until Ranma explained, grinning slightly.

"There's a rather comfortable spot on your roof that has the added benefit of sound carrying from inside the house to it rather well."

Nabiki frowned, and her voice was slightly accusatory.

"So you've been eavesdropping on us. Have you been doing anything else that's invasive of our privacy?"

Ranma's grin grew and changed in character, becoming slightly feral and wild looking, and Nabiki had to fight a sudden urge to step back.

"And if I had? You can't stop me, and you're hardly one to judge me on such matters anyway, Ms. Tendo. But to ease your worries, no I haven't done anything more invasive than listen in. At least, not since that video tape."

He took a step toward her and Nabiki took a slight step back. She was about to take another step, but Ranma suddenly stood before her. He reached up and lightly brushed her bangs with his right hand. He opened his mouth and his voice was quiet, more of a purr now, and it sent shivers through Nabiki's body.

"But if you want, I can do more."

When his words registered, Nabiki put all of her will toward keeping her blush down, and succeeded. Somewhat. Her face felt as cool and composed as ever, but other parts of her body felt uncomfortably hot. And somehow, she was sure Ranma knew that. His eyes had never left her own, but she suddenly felt naked before him.

Then the bell rang and Nabiki gave a rather undignified squeak, and turned away from Ranma in surprise. When she turned back, he was gone. Nabiki cursed and headed for class.

Up on the roof of the school, Ranma watched as Nabiki hurried to class. He chuckled, feeling slightly giddy as the rush he had just experienced slowly ebbed away. He looked up at the sky overhead, studying the slight spattering of clouds that lazily floated about. (Okay, Death was right, I have got to try that more often.)

:Furinkan field:

School that day seemed to pass agonizingly slow, more so for some than for others. Word of Genryu's fight had spread like wild fire, and all week the atmosphere had become more tense and expectant. Today, almost no one listened in class, instead, opting to study either Genryu, the field where the fight would take place, or one of the two Tendo sisters, whichever could at the time be studied.

Once the bell rang, Genryu had headed for the field, feeling the eyes of almost everyone on his back. When he arrived, he wasn't surprised to see most of the school body gathered, as well as several people who didn't attend the school.

Soun sat on the hillside that ringed the field next to Genma, who was in panda form and appeared to be sweating bullets and glancing about nervously. Not ten feet from them sat Cologne and Shampoo, accompanied by two new amazons that Genryu had yet to meet. One was like Cologne, old, short and wrinkled, while the other was younger, had red and stood a bit taller than Shampoo. Sitting next to Cologne, and talking quite avidly with her was Dr. Tofu. Genryu assumed the two were talking about various forms of medicine and healing.

"Place your bets everyone, place your bets!"

Genryu turned to see Nabiki, complete with megaphone, and two of her flunkies, running the betting pool as usual.

Genryu shrugged, and rolled his head about, popping his neck, as he swept his gaze over the gathered crowd, trying to spot Ranma. As Genryu's eyes passed over a tree, with several students gathered under it to enjoy the shade, Ranma suddenly dropped down to the ground from the tree's canopy, startling the students who hadn't known he was there. As Ranma walked out onto the field, Genryu was aware of silence slowly taking over the crowd. When a hand fell onto his shoulder he looked behind him to see Akane standing there. She simply said, "Good luck," before moving off to a free spot of grass.

Genryu started to walk out onto the field, toward Ranma, feeling confidence burn through him. (I won't need luck for this fight. It's already mine.)

:Author's Note:

I apologize for the rather large amount of time since my last update, but I've only recently gotten my computer fixed. Since then, I've dragged my much rested typing and story telling skills out of the closet and have begun to wring them for all they're worth, so please, no reviews chewing me out for taking so long.


	6. Chapter 5: Genryu Vs Ranma

Chapter 5: Genryu Vs. Ranma.

:Furinkan Field:

No words were traded as the two combatants walked toward each other, stopping when they were separated by nearly twenty feet of green grass. Ranma and Genryu studied each other for a moment before sliding into combat crouches, their eyes never leaving their opponent. For a short amount of time, they simply stood there, crouched down, as a strong breeze played through the field, blowing hair and clothes about. The audience stayed completely silent, feeling the tension mount until one could almost cut it with a knife.

Then Genryu crouched down just a bit more, gathering power into his legs, before dashing forward. Ranma's stance didn't change, remaining focused almost completely on offense as Genryu charged forward. Just as Genryu reached him, fist drawn back for a jab, Ranma stepped to the left, striking out with his foot. Ranma's foot caught Genryu at the ankle, and with a slight lift and twisting motion, Ranma propelled Genryu into the air, the younger boy flipping uncontrolled.

The fight was on.

Genryu tucked himself into a ball to regain control of his body, and then lashed out with a leg in a spin kick for Ranma's head. The older boy ducked, letting the kick whistle harmlessly overhead, then brought his hands up to catch Genryu's other leg as it came down toward his shoulder in a heel drop. Ranma pushed upward with both arms, sending Genryu into a flip away from him.

The youngest Saotome twisted in the air to land on his feet and instantly slid into a defensive stance as Ranma attacked.

On the sidelines, general murmurs of surprise sounded as people watched. Akane listened with only half of her attention, the rest focused on the fight.

"...fights just as well..."

"...rumor is that Genryu would win..."

"...I bet 3,000 yen on Genryu..."

"...but he hasn't landed a blow..."

"...something's fishy..."

"...Nabiki looks confident..."

As she caught the snippet of that last sentence, Akane turned to study her older sister.

Nabiki did indeed look confident, her usual smirk in place, despite the fact that everyone had placed bets on Genryu. If Genryu won like he claimed he was going too, Nabiki would be out a lot of money. And maybe it was that Akane knew Nabiki better than most people at school, but to her, Nabiki's smirk looked slightly forced and strained. Akane frowned as she realized that Nabiki's strained expression was the equivalent of someone else downright pacing and muttering in anxiety.

The middle Tendo daughter was worried about something.

Akane's attention was dragged back to the fight as there was a collective gasp from the crowd, and she was just in time to see Genryu fly into the air, arms and legs dangling, only to crash back down to the earth thirty feet away from Ranma. The elder Saotome drew back his left arm from an uppercut as he waited for his younger brother to recover.

And recover Genryu did, climbing back to his feet slowly, rubbing at his jaw. He studied Ranma, re-gauging his elder brother's capabilities from their recent bout.

Ranma stood, completely relaxed, hands once again in his cloak pockets, a slight smirk on his face. Genryu felt the stirrings of anger and mercilessly squashed them. As his normal calm and confident mind set came fully back, Genryu slid into an offensive stance, having the quick thought of, (Now if only Ryoga could calm down when he faced me. Then he'd be a real challenge.)

Genryu gathered his ki, preparing for a subsequent charge toward Ranma, followed by a quick Amaguriken, and an even quicker retreat. Since staying at close range with Ranma had proved ineffective, Genryu was going to try the tried-and-true hit-and-run tactic.

As Genryu charged at him, Ranma removed both hands from his cloak pockets, but didn't choose a stance. Instead, he simply stood there, relaxed, while Genryu closed the distance between them. And everyone saw why once Genryu reached Ranma and struck with a cry of, "Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken!"

Ranma turned so his right side was more toward Genryu, and blocked each of the rapid-fire punches with an unsettling ease. The fact that he did it with only his right hand also irked Genryu somewhat.

(Damn it, nearly a month of training to learn this technique, and he blocks it with one stupid hand!)

Genryu cut off the attack prematurely, since it had no effect and was merely a waste of energy, before leaping back and preparing to run around to attack Ranma from the side. He took his eyes off of Ranma for a bare moment to glance around and see if there was anything he could use to his advantage. When Genryu glanced back to Ranma's position, it was only to see the empty space that the elder Saotome brother had vacated.

"By the way, the hit-and-run tactic only works..."

Genryu gave a mental curse as he felt fingers wrap around his right wrist in a vice like grip. He turned to see Ranma smirking at him, holding Genryu's wrist with his left hand while his right was drawn back, fingers curled into a fist.

"...If you can outrun your opponent."

So saying, Ranma then pulled Genryu toward him with his left arm, and punched forward with his right. Ranma felt his fist collide with Genryu's face, and heard the telltale muffled crunch of Genryu's nose breaking, too quiet for most of the audience to hear. A moment later, as the force Ranma had applied caught up to Genryu's body, the younger Saotome was flying through the air. Genryu crashed down thirty feet away and involuntarily performed a sliding roll for another twenty feet, finally coming to rest on his stomach.

Genryu laid still for nearly ten seconds, and people began grumbling that he had lost, when he suddenly moved. With a grunt, Genryu placed his right hand on the ground to push him up, using his left hand to stem the flow of blood from his nose.

On the sidelines, Cologne and Mascara both shook their heads slightly. Shampoo turned to study her great-grandmother when the matriarch said, "That had to hurt."

Sensing the confusion of both Shampoo and Lotion, Cologne nodded toward Genryu. The two girls turned just in time to see Shampoo's husband place his left thumb on the side of his nose and push.

As a slight popping sound came and Genryu relaxed after he wiped some of the blood off of his face, a shudder passed through most of the crowd at the realization he had just set his broken nose.

Genryu simply stood still for a minute, recovering. He spat out some blood that had fallen into his mouth, blew hard through his nose to clear the remaining blood out, and once again wiped off his face.

Ranma, who had tucked his hands once again into the pockets of his cloak, watched Genryu while he waited. When he saw his younger brother practically flow into an offensive stance, and felt a change in Genryu's aura, Ranma knew that Genryu had just become serious. Ranma removed his hands from his cloak pockets and clenched them into fists. He didn't assume a stance, instead merely turning so his left side was more toward Genryu, and bringing his hands up. His right remained level with his waist, and his left was placed before him, angled upward.

The crowd, watching, realized that something was changing in the fight, and silence once again settled over the spectators.

And not a moment too soon as Genryu charged Ranma, the eyes of both combatants never leaving those of the other. Genryu cleared the ground between himself and Ranma in a blur, and lashed out with a simple jab, aimed directly at Ranma's face.

Ranma's left hand moved to intercept, the fingers unfurling from the fist to catch and hold Genryu's fist, when Ranma's eyes suddenly widened and he threw himself to the side. Genryu's fist shot through the space occupied by Ranma's head only to be retracted at Amaguriken speed. Genryu's other fist shot out as Ranma leaned back, letting attack pass over him as he struck out with his right leg.

Genryu's left leg went flying out from under him and he fell to the side, unbalanced. Ranma quickly stood up and leapt away from Genryu as the younger brother climbed to his feet and gave chase.

Everyone on the sidelines gasped when Genryu reached Ranma, gave a single punch towards Ranma's ribs that the elder brother didn't even bother to block or dodge. Genryu's fist flew toward Ranma's ribs in a blur...

...And stopped with a bare inch separating Genryu's fist from Ranma's ribs. Genryu looked down in shock and gasped as he saw his fist, with a corona of his own ki, a blue white in color, surrounded by a cushion of Ranma's own ki, which was slightly darker. Ranma's right hand calmly reached out and grabbed hold of Genryu's wrist. The younger brother looked up into Ranma's face as the elder spoke.

"Not bad Genryu, coming up with that technique from watching me use the Gentle Fist once. But that won't work on me."

Ranma then spun, Genryu's wrist still grasped in his own. Genryu grunted when he was pulled forward and his chest was pressed rather firmly against the back of Ranma's shoulder. A moment later, the world tilted crazily for Genryu as Ranma threw him into the air in a conventional shoulder throw.

Flipping over in the air to land on his feet, Genryu thought, (What was that! Stopped my attack easily, almost like a cushion. Wait...) Genryu landed, his legs bending slightly as he absorbed his downward momentum. (A cushion of ki...Damn. His control over his ki is incredible if he can do that. This is going to be harder than I thought.) As Genryu slid once again into an offensive stance, a light blue glow came slowly into existence around his fists and feet, enforcing and protecting them. (Time for the knockout.)

Ranma frowned as he saw Genryu's ki come into existence. A quick scan of his younger brother's aura revealed that the younger Saotome was truly serious. His focus had reached a level that actually surprised Ranma, and Genryu's ki was growing as he powered up. (So, he's going all out. This should be entertaining.)

Time seemed to ground to a halt as Ranma adopted an offensive stance to match his brothers, and the two looked at each other, separated by thirty feet of grass.

Then time snapped back into place as the two charged, covering the ground between them instantly as they both attacked.

Genryu waited till the last second before diving forward into a roll. Once he was in the perfect position, he pushed against the ground with his hands and uncoiled from the roll like a spring, striking out with both legs, feet aimed at Ranma's chin. The elder Saotome leaned back, letting the feet pass in front of his face as the power Genryu had put into the blow lifted him into the air. As Genryu's unprotected side came into view Ranma struck with a simple jab with his right fist, the attack making Genryu grunt and spin in the air.

Using the spin to his advantage, Genryu twisted his body to add some extra force while he performed a sweeping kick toward Ranma's head. Ducking, Ranma let the kick move overhead harmlessly while he tried to strike Genryu's suddenly exposed back. However, Ranma aborted the attack in favor of leaning back as Genryu once again spun, this time in such a way that his right fist came back and up, aimed at Ranma's chin in a back hand.

As gravity took hold on Genryu once more, he reoriented himself to land on his feet, arms ready to cross in a block. A block he made good use of as Ranma's fist shot out, aimed at his chest. Genryu's arms crossed into an X over the spot Ranma would strike, and Genryu grinned at Ranma. That grin died a quick, painful death as Ranma's fist suddenly unfurled, and the punch turned into a palm strike.

On the sidelines, Akane, though she could barely keep up with the speed, felt her mouth open to shout a warning while she mentally screamed, (Gentle Fist! Dodge it Genryu!)

Almost as if he could hear her, Genryu immediately threw his weight backward, his arms still crossed over his chest. The younger Saotome doubted he'd get clear of the attack, but felt a stirring of hope in his chest as Ranma's hand stopped just short of Genryu's arms, and there was a burst of blue ki that felt almost like a feather duster being rather forcibly applied to Genryu's arms.

Suddenly overbalanced, Genryu fell onto his back. He immediately tried to recover, swinging his legs up and pushing against the ground with his arms. Ranma leaned back, dodging the kicks, but Genryu thought he saw Ranma give a lightning quick jab at one of his legs. Ignoring it for more pressing matters, Genryu continued to push against he ground, shoving himself into the air in a flip that took him a few feet away from Ranma.

As soon as Genryu touched down, he propelled himself forward in a sprint for Ranma, idly wondering about the not quite painful tingling in both of his arms. As he cleared the distance between them, Genryu shoved the sensation into the back of his mind as he gathered as much ki as he could muster, and sent it shooting into his arms as he reached Ranma, the elder Saotome having fallen into a defensive stance.

Genryu's arms turned into mere blue blurs as he shouted, "Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken," his fists surrounded in nearly three inches of his ki. Ranma met the enhanced assault head on, his own arms becoming black clad blurs as he blocked, or redirected each punch Genryu threw, as well as some action Genryu couldn't quite identify.

A moment later, Genryu didn't care about whatever Ranma was doing as his arms erupted in pain.

Ranma, who was paying close attention to his brother's face and aura, instantly knew when the pain hit, and took advantage of the distraction, spinning around in a roundhouse kick that caught Genryu completely by surprise.

Genryu hit the ground in a rolling slide. Near the end he smoothly rolled to his feet, holding his arms gingerly before him. Many people on the sidelines exclaimed as they saw Genryu's arms, which had turned an angry red, with numerous small dots on them, about the size of a pea.

On the sidelines, Tofu suddenly leaned forward, his eyes narrowed as he looked at Genryu's arms. "Cologne, if I could borrow your eyes for a moment?"

The aged matriarch nodded.

"Can you look at Genryu's arms, in specific the ki pathways in them, and tell me what you see?"

Cologne nodded as she focused on the young Saotome's arms, her eyes unfocusing for a moment. When they refocused, Cologne saw things differently. People looked like faint outlines of themselves, filled with slight blobs of color. She was skilled enough with this trick that when she focused on Genryu, the blobs of color held within his 'outline' ceased to be mere blobs. Instead, the color, mostly a light blue, seemed to condense into pathways that moved throughout the body, wrapping around internal organs. The color, which was ki, seemed to be moving constantly, rather like water through pipes.

With the exception of the ki in Genryu's arms.

"What!"

Tofu, Mascara, Lotion and Shampoo all turned to look at Cologne as the matriarch let her vision return to normal. Cologne looked perplexed, confused, and, perhaps, a little anxious.

Shampoo looked concerned as she asked, "Great-Grandmother, what wrong?"

Cologne ignored the question for a moment as she gazed at Genryu and Ranma, the elder of which was letting Genryu recover.

"The ki in Genryu's arms, it's...blocked off."  
Tofu sat forward sharply, his attention focused completely on Cologne as she continued, ignoring Mascara's gasp of surprise.

"It happened when Genryu last used the Amaguriken. While Genryu was throwing the punches, Ranma made numerous finger jabs, each one so fast I almost couldn't follow, to several points on Genryu's arms."

Mascara's eyes focused on Genryu, seeing past the flesh to the ki beneath to see what Cologne was talking about while she continued.

"Now, on each of the points that Ranma struck, there is a block of foreign ki in Genryu's ki pathways. The ki is trapped, and I'd say it's only a matter of minutes before Genryu's arms become paralyzed for several hours at least."

Shampoo turned to the two brothers, her face openly showing her concern, while Lotion merely looked on, focused on the fight. Mascara, her check of Genryu's aura complete, shook her head as she spoke, a respect showing clearly through her voice.

"The focus needed for the precise, pinpoint accuracy to hit those spots in the middle of a battle, not to mention while Genryu was using the Amaguriken, is mind boggling."

Tofu returned his attention to the fight, his brow pursed in thought.

"I don't suppose you'll be doing the smart thing, and giving up, will you?"

Genryu growled at Ranma's question.

"Not on your life. I'm winning this fight."  
Ranma merely blinked at his brother's statement of imminent victory before saying, "Take as much time as you need to recover then."

Genryu's teeth ground against each other at Ranma's tone, and he longed to go and shut Ranma up. The only problem was, Genryu didn't see how he could.

His arms felt bulky and uncooperative with his brain, not to mention they still burned with pain somewhat. That and, for some reason, he couldn't feel the ki in his arms anymore. It was as if they had suddenly vanished.

For the first time in the fight, Genryu was confronted with the realization that he might actually lose. Hard on the heels of that realization was the thought, (No! I'm Saotome Genryu, I CAN'T lose. Especially not to Ranma.) Genryu felt confidence born of determination burn through him. (And I won't. I just have to find a way to beat him. He's not invincible.) As Genryu thought on possible ways to beat Ranma, he glared at the black clad Saotome, who stood perfectly relaxed, facing Genryu.

(Damn it, I can't do anything while he's facing me. No tricks, like gathering a rock or something, and I can't use the Saotome Final Attack, he's too fast. Wait...that's it!) Genryu quickly considered he spoke, his voice carrying over to Ranma.

"Alright, I'm ready."

Ranma nodded, oblivious to Genryu's thoughts.

(I doubt anyone's ever gotten behind Ranma before, with his speed, so he'll have developed a blind spot behind him! All I have to do is gather my ki into my legs and put on a burst of speed when he least expects it. I'll have to use my new technique, and deliver a single kick to the back of Ranma's head. This fight is MINE!)

Ranma's next words, however, worked quite well in killing the blossoming hope in Genryu.

"Good, cause I've finished warming up."

Genryu blinked, feeling the hope die within him. (He's bluffing. He's got to be.) Clinging to that one thought, Genryu raised his arms clumsily into position before himself.

A moment later, Genryu realized that Ranma was, in fact, not bluffing in the slightest.

Ranma crouched down, gathering a fraction of his total ki and focusing it. The spectators blinked as an aura of dark blue came into existence around Ranma, outlining his form in a corona of energy. Then Ranma leaned forward, as if he was about to fall over, and...

...disappeared.

Genryu blanched, his face showing unrestrained shock. He caught a flicker of motion as Ranma ran straight at him, almost faster than Genryu could track. (This speed's on par with Cologne!) Genryu started a kick, aimed for where he thought Ranma was attacking. However, the kick met nothing as Ranma suddenly switched directions, diving and rolling into a rising kick that struck Genryu in the chin.

Nabiki watched on the sidelines as the younger Saotome was lifted into the air, feeling relief flow through her. As Genryu hit the ground, rolling backwards and up to his feet, rather shaken, Nabiki thought, (This fight is over.) When Genryu suddenly sprinted at Ranma, Nabiki smirked, this time with true confidence. (Genryu just doesn't know it yet.)

Ranma quickly reoriented himself, placing his feet back on the ground as Genryu closed the distance between them. When Genryu was nearly ten feet away, he suddenly darted to the side, picking up speed in an attempt to get behind Ranma. Ranma smirked as he waited before lashing out behind himself, catching Genryu in the head with a heal kick. The younger Saotome flew into the air once again, spinning slowly, as Ranma brought his foot back to the ground, facing Genryu's twisting form.

Genryu crashed into the ground with a muffled thump before sliding away a small distance. For a moment, Ranma actually thought that Genryu would stay down. However, as Genryu slowly and painfully climbed back to his feet, Ranma actually felt a bit of admiration for his brother. (Heh. You had a good run, Genryu, but it's time to end this.)

As Genryu stared at Ranma, his vision blurry, he noticed that his arms weren't responding anymore. When Ranma suddenly disappeared again, Genryu found he didn't care. (Damn it, I'm the best. How can I lose to someone like Ranma?) A small voice in the back of Genryu's head, a voice he more often than not ignored, said, (Maybe he's not the same Ranma you remember.)

As Genryu's vision went black and he passed out, he muttered, "Just shut up, damnit."

Stunned silence ruled over the field as Ranma suddenly slowed down enough to be seen by everyone present, coming to a stop next to Genryu as the younger Saotome fell forward. Ranma's arm shot out and he easily caught Genryu's form before gently laying him on the grass. Ranma crouched next to Genryu for a moment and tapped several spots on his arms before standing and walking over to Dr. Tofu.

The good Doctor stood as Ranma approached, hands in his cloak pockets. Ranma inclined his head back toward Genryu, and said, "He could use some help with the bruises he's going to wake up with."

Tofu nodded before stepping around Ranma and walking toward Genryu's prone form. A moment later, Nabiki's voice echoed out over the field, magnified by the megaphone she held.

"And the winner is Ranma!"

:Author's Note:

Ah, got that one done. Again, I apologize for the extremely long wait since my last update. Please review, ask questions, and all that great stuff. It'll help me make the future chapters better, which will hopefully keep you all hooked as readers who will be forgiving for update gaps.


End file.
